City of Portland Parking Tickets: Fines, Payment, and Appeals

A Portland parking ticket gives you 30 days from the citation date to pay it, contest it, or request a court hearing. Miss that window and the citation goes delinquent, which can add fines, send the debt to collections, and expose your vehicle to booting or towing.¹ Citations are handled by the Multnomah County Circuit Court, not by the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT), so payments and hearings go through the court.

How Much Is the Fine

Most common Portland parking fines fall between $44 and $165. A few of the amounts you’re most likely to see:²

Overtime meter, first offense: $44
Overtime meter, second offense: $50
Overtime meter, third offense: $70
Area parking permit zone without a permit: $85
Area permit abuse: $130
Disabled or wheelchair zone, first offense: $165
Invalid use of a disabled permit: $440

No-parking zones, loading zones, and other infractions carry their own amounts on PBOT’s violations page. Fines change over time, so check the current schedule rather than relying on the figure printed on an older ticket.

How to Pay

You have three ways to pay, and all of them go through the court.

Online

Use the Oregon Judicial Department’s ePay portal. It accepts Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express. You’ll need the citation number (it starts with “HA”), the citation date, and your license plate number. Wait at least three business days after the ticket was issued before trying to pay online, since the citation needs time to appear in the system.³ Payments usually post within one business day.⁴

By Mail

Send a check or money order payable to “State of Oregon.” Don’t send cash. Write your citation number and license plate on the payment and mail it to:³

Multnomah County Circuit Court
Parking Citation Office
P.O. Box 78
Portland, OR 97207

In Person

Pay at the Customer Service Department on the second floor of the Multnomah County Central Courthouse, 1200 SW First Avenue, Portland, OR 97204. The office is open weekdays, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., excluding holidays. Cash, money orders, cashier’s checks, and credit or debit cards are accepted.⁵

How to Contest the Ticket

If you think the ticket was wrongly issued, you have two different routes. They are not the same, and picking one closes the other.

Written Explanation

You can mail a written explanation using the yellow envelope that came with the citation, along with any supporting documents. It’s convenient, but there’s a real trade-off: submitting a written explanation waives your right to a court hearing, and you agree in advance to whatever the judge decides from the paperwork.¹

Court Hearing

If you want to appear before a judge, you can request a hearing three ways:¹

Online through the Multnomah County Circuit Court’s website.
By mail, using a separate written request in the yellow citation envelope.
In person at the Customer Service Area on the second floor of the Multnomah County Central Courthouse at 1200 SW First Avenue.

Whichever method you use, the request has to reach the court within 30 days of the citation date. Miss that and the ticket becomes delinquent.

See the Photos First

Before you commit either way, look at the photos PBOT took when the ticket was written. You’ll need the citation number, the citation date, and your license plate. Photos can take up to three days to appear online after the ticket is issued.¹

Asking for a Reduced Fine

A fine reduction is a separate process from contesting the ticket. You plead no contest and waive your right to trial, and in return the court may lower what you owe. The request has to be submitted within 60 days of the citation date, either online through the Parking Fine Reduction Request form or by mailing in the Response to Parking Citation form.⁶

The court identifies three main scenarios where a reduction is available: you had paid for parking (submit proof of a valid meter payment at the time), you were in compliance (submit documentation that the vehicle was legally parked), or you fixed the problem afterward (submit proof of correction, like current registration for an expired-registration citation). As an example, a ticket for failure to display current registration between 0 and 90 days expired can be reduced to $20 if you provide current registration documentation and photos of both plates with valid stickers.⁶

You can also plead no contest with a written explanation and ask the judge to weigh your circumstances. Online submissions need supporting documents as PDF, JPG, or PNG files and are processed in about three months. Mail and in-person requests can take six to twelve months because of court budget constraints.

If You Can’t Pay All at Once

The Multnomah County Circuit Court’s Customer Service Department can set up a payment plan, with a monthly amount and due date based on your situation. Arrange it in person, by phone, or by email at Mul.FinancialDept@ojd.state.or.us.⁷

If the plan runs more than a year, the court may add a fee per case. Once a plan is in place, you can make partial payments through the ePay portal.

What Happens If You Ignore It

Letting the 30 days run out without paying, contesting, or requesting a hearing opens the door to several escalating consequences:¹

The court can enter a judgment and raise the fine up to the maximum allowed by law.
The court can issue a warrant authorizing PBOT to boot or tow the vehicle.
The debt can go to a collection agency, which adds its own fees.

Vehicles with more than $500 in unpaid citations and fees, or six or more delinquent citations, are subject to towing. Booting exists as an alternative that lets the owner see a judge and resolve the citations before losing the car entirely. There is currently no separate booting fee on top of the unpaid citations.⁵

Getting a Booted Car Released

If your car is booted, you have to resolve the outstanding citations through the Multnomah County Circuit Court before the boot comes off. You can’t pay for a release over the phone or online. Payment has to be made in person at the courthouse, using cash, a money order, a cashier’s check, or a credit or debit card in your name. If someone else is paying by card for you, that person has to be present with a valid government-issued photo ID.⁵

Bring proof of ownership, proof of registration, proof of insurance, and a valid driver’s license. Once the court releases the hold, either by full payment or a payment plan, PBOT Parking Enforcement removes the boot, usually in under two hours. Don’t try to remove or damage the boot yourself; unauthorized removal can bring additional fines or penalties.

Getting a Towed Car Released

For a towed vehicle, email the required documentation to the Portland Police Bureau at Tow@police.portlandoregon.gov. You’ll need valid photo ID with a signature, proof of ownership (a title, notarized bill of sale, or DMV transfer receipt), and a valid operator’s license. If you don’t have a valid license, bring someone who does so they can drive the vehicle out.⁸

If the tow was for lack of liability insurance, you also need proof of an active policy listing the registered owner’s name, the insurance company, the policy’s effective dates, and the vehicle’s VIN. Vehicles not claimed within three days of the first day of storage become subject to a lien.

In-person tow dockets at the courthouse are held at 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. on weekdays. Arrive at least 30 minutes early. For questions about towing rates, call PBOT’s towing program at 503-823-7483.⁵

1
Portland.gov. Pay and/or Contest a Parking Ticket
2
Portland.gov. Common Parking Violations and Fine Amounts
3
Oregon Judicial Department. Pay a Parking Citation
4
Oregon Judicial Department. OJD Courts ePay
5
Portland.gov. Booting, Explained
6
Oregon Judicial Department. How Do I Request a Parking Fine Reduction
7
Oregon Judicial Department. Payments FAQ
8
Portland.gov. Towing Instructions and Info