§ 4521.03
(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.
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