The District of Columbia Department of Motor Vehicles (DC DMV) is the agency through which you can contest parking, photo enforcement, and minor moving violation tickets. It is also the agency that accepts ticket payments. You will find links below to help you with those processes. In general, when you receive a parking, photo enforcement, or minor moving violation ticket in the District, you have three options to respond to the ticket: you can pay the ticket, admit with an explanation, or contest the ticket.
To find out about tickets issued to a vehicle you own, along with hearing decisions and other ticket-related information, you can register for DC DMV’s Email Ticket Alert Service (TAS). TAS allows drivers to create a single account that provides near-real-time email notification of ticket activity on up to four vehicles and a single driver license. And, a TAS account is free!
TAS will also send you reminder emails so that you do not miss deadlines and have late penalties assessed, or face vehicle booting or impounding. To enroll, you must have had at least one ticket issued to either you or your vehicle within the past 18 months.
If you are enrolled in the program, you will be able to log on and view all images associated with a ticket. You will have access to all information in the ticket history file, such as hearing requests, outcomes, payments, appeals, etc. You will also have the ability to link online to the ticket payment, ticket contesting, and hearing scheduling functions.
Register for the Email Ticket Alert Service today.
DC DMV also has a ticket ombudsman to assist with navigating complex adjudication questions, misunderstandings, conflicts, customer service issues and/or complaints. The ticket ombudsman does not provide legal advice or adjudicate tickets. For assistance, please feel free to contact the Ombudsman by submitting your information via this webform or telephone at (202) 729-7092. For additional information, please visit the Ticket Ombudsman webpage.
Note: DC DMV does not issue tickets. Parking, photo enforcement, and minor moving violation tickets are issued by the DC Department of Public Works, the DC Department of Transportation, and law enforcement agencies including the Metropolitan Police Department, US Capitol Police, US Park Police, and more than 30 other agencies.
