What used to be accomplished with the click of a button now requires multiple trips to the courthouse and months of waiting.
In September, Denver County Court shut down an online portal that had allowed residents to challenge parking citations virtually. The portal’s closing coincided with the closure of the city’s Parking Magistrate’s Office, after the court laid off all of its magistrates due to major citywide budget cuts. The parking magistrates were in charge of reviewing online disputes and deciding the outcomes.
Now, if a vehicle is wrongfully ticketed, the driver must go to the Denver City and County Building during business hours to request a hearing before a judicial officer, then return for an in-person hearing. And as Hannah Metzger reported, as of May 5, the earliest available hearing date was August 10…