Courts resume late fees for Seattle parking, traffic tickets

Starting Jan. 30, late fees will resume on all tickets past due, after being suspended in March 2020 for the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Municipal Court of Seattle, there are about 350,000 tickets that are currently unpaid, and will have late fees now applied to them.

City of Seattle to dismiss and refund approximately 200,000 parking tickets

“Members of the public are encouraged to pay their overdue tickets, take advantage of the court’s payment plan or community service plan options, or schedule a hearing to dispute or mitigate their tickets by January 30, 2023 to avoid late fees,” according to a press release from the Municipal Court of Seattle.

If you lost your parking or camera tickets, you can look them up using the court’s online portal to check your license plate. Use the Vehicle Information tab in the left-hand menu to search your license plate. Click on your license plate, and any Seattle citations issued to that vehicle will be listed.

If you lost your traffic tickets, you can use the court’s online portal to search your name under the “Defendant Search” tab. Click on your name, and any Seattle traffic tickets issued to you will be listed.

If you can’t pay your ticket(s) in full, you can apply for a payment plan or community service plan by Jan. 30, 2023. You may be able to set up a payment plan for as low as $10 per month, or perform community service work at an approved charitable organization instead of paying.

If you would like to dispute or mitigate your ticket, you can request a hearing by mail or by phone before Jan. 30, 2023.

The late fee is an additional $25 for parking and camera tickets and an additional $52 for traffic tickets.

In March 2020, default penalty fees for past-due tickets and referring tickets to collections were halted due to economic hardships caused by the pandemic.