Section 4521.03. Adoption of parking ticket

(A) Each local authority that enacts any ordinance, resolution, or regulation pursuant to division (A) of section 4521.02 of the Revised Code shall adopt a parking ticket to be used by its law enforcement officers. The "Ohio Uniform Traffic Ticket" described in Traffic Rule 3(A) and (B) may be used as the parking ticket. The parking ticket adopted by a local authority shall be the summons and complaint for purposes of this chapter.

(B) The parking ticket adopted by a local authority pursuant to division (A) of this section shall be used by its law enforcement officers in all cases in which a person is charged with committing a parking infraction in its political subdivision. Each parking ticket shall contain provisions that advise the person upon whom it is served that the person must answer in relation to the parking infraction charged in the ticket and that certain penalties may result from a failure to timely answer, indicate the allowable answers that may be made and that the person will be afforded a hearing if he denies in his answer that he committed the parking infraction, specify the entity to which, the time within which, and the allowable manners in which the answer must be made, indicate the penalties that may result from failure to timely answer and the fine that arises from the parking infraction, warn that failure to timely answer or to appear at a requested hearing will be considered an admission of the parking infraction, and warn that a default civil judgment potentially may be entered against the person and, if different, the owner of the vehicle if the person fails to timely answer or to appear at a requested hearing.

(C) A law enforcement officer who issues a parking ticket for a parking infraction shall complete the ticket by identifying the parking infraction charged, recording the license plate number, type, and make or model of the vehicle, and indicating the date, time, and place of the parking infraction charged. The officer shall sign the ticket and affirm the facts it contains. If the operator of the vehicle is present, the officer also shall record on the ticket the name of the operator in a space provided on the ticket for identification of the offender, and then shall personally serve the parking ticket upon the operator. If the operator of the vehicle is not present, the officer shall insert the word "owner" in the space provided on the ticket for identification of the offender, and then shall constructively serve the parking ticket upon the owner of the vehicle by affixing the ticket to the vehicle in a conspicuous place.

Constructive service of a parking ticket upon an owner of a vehicle by affixation as provided in this division, or by the procedure described in division (E) of this section, has the same force and effect, and potentially subjects both the owner and the operator of the vehicle whose act or omission resulted in the parking infraction, if different, to the same fine and the same penalties for failure to timely answer or to appear, if a hearing is requested, as if the parking ticket were personally served on both the owner and operator of the vehicle at the time of the violation.

(D) The original of a parking ticket issued pursuant to this section or any true copy of it shall be considered a record kept in the ordinary course of business of the local authority and of the law enforcement agency whose officer issued it, and shall be prima-facie evidence of the facts it contains.

(E) An operator of a vehicle who is not the owner of the vehicle, but who operates it with the express or implied permission of the owner is the agent of the owner for purposes of the receipt of parking tickets served in accordance with this section, and personal service of a parking ticket upon the operator in accordance with this section constitutes constructive service upon the owner for purposes of this chapter. The operator of a rented or leased vehicle whose act or omission resulted in an alleged parking infraction shall not be considered an agent of the owner if the owner is engaged in the business of renting and leasing vehicles pursuant to a written rental or lease agreement and if the owner follows the procedures set forth in section 4521.09 of the Revised Code.

(F) Except as provided in section 4521.09 of the Revised Code, when a parking ticket is issued for a parking infraction and is served pursuant to this section, the operator of the vehicle whose act or omission resulted in the parking infraction for which the ticket was issued and the owner of the vehicle involved in the parking infraction, if different, are jointly liable for the parking infraction and any fine or penalty arising out of the parking infraction under an ordinance, resolution, or regulation enacted by the local authority pursuant to division (A) of section 4521.02 of the Revised Code. Any owner of a vehicle who pays any fine or penalty imposed for a parking infraction pursuant to this chapter may recover the amount paid from the operator of the vehicle whose act or omission resulted in the parking infraction.

(G) No person upon whom a parking ticket charging a parking infraction is personally or constructively served pursuant to this section shall be arrested as a result of the commission of the parking infraction.

Effective Date: 01-01-1983