Broken Parking Meter / Pay Station Defense
Most Texas cities (Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio) explicitly accept 'broken or malfunctioning meter' as a contesting reason. Houston Code of Ordinances Ch. 26 and the ParkHouston rules provide that a citation must be dismissed where the meter or pay station was inoperable, displayed an error, refused valid payment, or did not display remaining time. Photo evidence of the meter screen/display at the time and location is essentially dispositive at administrative hearings.
Legal basis
Houston Code of Ordinances Ch. 26; Dallas City Code § 28-130; Austin City Code § 12-5-22; Tex. Transp. Code § 542.202 (general)
Sample appeal wording
TO: ParkHouston Adjudication / Dallas Parking Adjudication / Austin Municipal Court / [CITY] Hearing Office RE: Citation [NUMBER] I contest this citation. At [TIME] on [DATE], parking meter / pay station #[NUMBER] at [LOCATION] was malfunctioning: [it displayed an error code / did not accept my payment / did not display remaining time / would not power on]. Photograph attached. I attempted to pay using [coins/card/app] and the meter [refused/error]. Pursuant to [CITY ORDINANCE — Houston Code Ch. 26 / Dallas City Code § 28-130 / Austin City Code § 12-5-22], a malfunctioning meter cannot support a citation for failure to deposit payment. I request the citation be dismissed. Signed: ____________ Date: __________
Replace [PARKING DATE], [NtK DATE] etc. with your own dates before sending.
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Scan my ticketSources
- Houston Code of Ordinances Chapter 26
- Dallas City Code § 28-130
- Austin City Code Chapter 12-5