Tulsan Frustrated By Parking Ticket, Despite Hour Left On Meter

If you've ever received a parking ticket, you probably know that fighting it in court can take a lot of time out of your day.

Most of the parking meters in downtown Tulsa are electronic, so if you don't have coins or cash, you can just swipe your card, which helps you prove what you paid and when.

With nearly half an hour to go, Tony Baker said he was ticketed for letting his parking meter expire. He gathered bank statements and receipts and even took pictures of the meter, showing 26 minutes left on his time, to prove his innocence.

Baker used his debit card to pay for two hours of parking at 11:41, and his bank records show the same, but the citation was issued just over an hour later at 12:45.

"It's just a bully scenario, is what it is. And they've basically given themselves the right to go around and slap a parking ticket on any car they want, and you can't fight it," Baker said.

The ticket was for $15. To fight it in municipal court, he'd have to pay a $30 bond amount, in addition to the 15 bucks, all of which would be refunded if he won.

But Baker said it's not about the money.

"It's gonna cost me time, it's gonna cost me money and it's more than it's worth," he said.

But it turns out there is a way to skip seeing a judge altogether. It's not written down anywhere, but Tulsa City Prosecutor Bob Garner said, if it's a reasonable case, just bring the matter to him.

"I have a lot of people that come by that get parking tickets," Garner said.

He keeps tickets from the past five days in a stack on his desk, in case there's a complaint. He said he hasn't seen a case like Baker's, but if the proof is there, he said he doesn't have a problem throwing out the ticket.

Garner said he believes the ticket investigator probably made a mistake when issuing the ticket, and he hasn't received any complaints of ticket abuse.

"I deal with those issues and complaints when they come by seriously. A prosecutor is supposed to do justice," Garner said. "We exercise prosecutorial discretion all the time."

Baker said he didn't know to go to the prosecutor, so he ended up just paying the fine.