A Fairfax County parking ticket must be paid or contested within 21 calendar days of the date it was issued.1Fairfax County, Virginia. Parking Tickets The Department of Tax Administration collects uncontested payments; the Fairfax County General District Court handles disputes. Miss that 21-day window and a $25 late fee is added automatically, with towing, a registration hold, and collections to follow if the balance stays unpaid.
Before you do anything else, check the header on your citation. Tickets from the City of Fairfax, the Town of Herndon, the Town of Vienna, and the Town of Clifton are completely separate from county tickets, and paying the wrong office will not clear them.2City of Fairfax, VA. Parking Tickets
How To Pay Within 21 Days
You’ll need either your citation number or your license plate number and state of registration. Fairfax County offers four payment channels.
- Online: tocite.net/fairfaxcounty/portal. Credit and debit card payments carry a service fee.
- Phone: 703-215-1021, automated. Credit card service fee applies.1Fairfax County, Virginia. Parking Tickets
- Mail: Check only, sent to the Department of Tax Administration, PO Box 609, Belle Mead, NJ 08502. A returned check adds a $50 charge.1Fairfax County, Virginia. Parking Tickets
- In person: Department of Tax Administration, 12000 Government Center Parkway, Suite 223, Fairfax, VA 22035, weekdays 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Cash, check, and cards accepted; card payments incur a third-party service fee.3Fairfax County, Virginia. Hours and Directions
A warning on the mail option: the payment address is a processing center in New Jersey, not the Fairfax Government Center. Checks sent to the Government Center may not reach the right office in time to beat the deadline.
The fine amount is printed on the face of your citation and depends on the violation. County parking rules sit in Chapter 82 of the County Code. State law drives the serious ones: parking in a fire lane or within 15 feet of a hydrant is prohibited under Virginia Code,4Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-1239 – Parking in Certain Locations; Penalty and unauthorized use of a disabled parking space can be charged as a Class 2 misdemeanor.5Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-1250 – Unauthorized Use of Disabled Parking License Plates Commercial vehicles parked in violation of residential restrictions under Section 82-5-7 draw a $100 fine per violation and can be towed at the owner’s expense.6Fairfax County, Virginia. Summary of Section 82-5-7 of the Fairfax County Code
How To Contest a Fairfax County Parking Ticket
There is no administrative appeal. The Department of Tax Administration does not have authority to dismiss or adjudicate parking tickets, so there is no informal review to request.1Fairfax County, Virginia. Parking Tickets If you want to fight the ticket, your only path is a hearing before the Fairfax County General District Court, and the request must be made within 21 days of the issue date.7Fairfax County Government. Parking Tickets
To set a court date, go to the DTA parking tickets page and follow the instructions for requesting a hearing. A judge will then review the evidence from both sides. Additional court fees apply if you take this route.1Fairfax County, Virginia. Parking Tickets Late requests are not accepted, so if you intend to contest, start the process the day the ticket arrives.
What Happens if You Miss the 21-Day Deadline
The county has several enforcement tools and uses them in sequence.
Late Fees
A $25 late payment fee is added automatically to any uncontested ticket not paid within 21 days.1Fairfax County, Virginia. Parking Tickets A bounced check adds a separate $50 returned-check charge on top of that.
Towing and Booting
The Fairfax County Police Department can tow any vehicle with three or more outstanding citations.1Fairfax County, Virginia. Parking Tickets To get a towed vehicle released you have to pay all outstanding ticket balances plus the full cost of the tow and storage. Booting is also authorized; the county does not publish a specific threshold. Either way, the removal and storage charges are added on top of the fines and late fees.
Vehicle Registration Hold
Fairfax County participates in a state program that lets the Virginia DMV block your registration renewal until the parking debt is cleared.1Fairfax County, Virginia. Parking Tickets Once you pay the balance, call DTA at 703-222-8234 to have the hold released. The DMV is required to remove the stop within 24 hours of receiving confirmation from the county.8Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Delinquent Property Taxes and Vehicle Registration
Collections and Tax Refund Intercept
Unresolved debts can be referred to a third-party collection agency, which adds its own fees to your balance.1Fairfax County, Virginia. Parking Tickets The county may also file a lien. Under Virginia’s Set-Off Debt Collection Act, local governments can intercept your state income tax refund to recover unpaid parking fines, and the county may add up to $25 in administrative costs per claim when it uses the program.9Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code Title 58.1, Chapter 3, Article 21 – Setoff Debt Collection Act
The cheapest outcome is almost always to handle the ticket before day 21. Pay it if you don’t plan to contest it, and if you do plan to contest it, request the court hearing in the same window.