DENVER — Denver drivers who want to fight a parking ticket are facing a frustrating new reality: months-long wait times for court hearings after the city eliminated its online appeal process due to budget cuts.
The number of people forced to appear in court to fight parking citations has skyrocketed since Denver shut down its online portal on Sept. 18, 2025. Final hearings for parking citations jumped from 12 that September to 93 in October, with 138 hearings scheduled this past January alone.
In January 2025 when the online portal was still active, only one hearing was scheduled.
The number of final hearings broken down by month, provided by Denver County Courts, can be seen below.
"It's complicated because most people work and I do, full time, so the fact that I had to take time out of my day just to come down here to try and get this issue resolved," said Jennifer Dale, who is among the hundreds of people who have had to show up in person to appeal citations in recent months.
Denver County Courts eliminated the online appeal process after no longer having staff to manage it amid budget cuts. Now, drivers like Dale must take time off work and wait months for court dates.
"They're pretty much making me come back to go to court and meet with a judge in three months," Dale said.
The surge in court hearings isn't due to an increase in parking citations being issued. Data from the city's Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) shows fewer citations were actually handed out this past January compared to last year, when only one hearing was scheduled.
Below is a list of how many parking citations DOTI issued each month.
DOTI is working on a solution, with plans to roll out a new citation review system online to replace the old one, according to a spokesperson from the department.
"I encourage them to make something that's very user friendly so we don't have to come down here in person," Dale said.
Both DOTI and Denver County Courts declined Denver7's request for an interview.
What if you got a parking ticket you want to dispute?
Drivers in Denver who want to dispute a parking ticket can go to the first floor of the city and county building in Room 135 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. during the week. Then, you will typically schedule a court date to appeal your case in front of a judge.
The citation must not be older than 20 calendar days.