Parking Citation Policies and Procedures
1. Montana statute authorizes the University System Board of Regents to establish traffic & parking regulations at each campus and to levy fines to any vehicle in violation. (§ 20-25-312, MCA).
2. Placement of a violation notice upon a vehicle, a letter of notice to the vehicle’s owner, or posting a balance due for any fine onto an account serves as an official notification of a parking citation.
3. Payment of any fine is due within 30 days of the citation date, after which late fees may
apply. Within 10-days, an on-line appeal of the citation may be submitted, UMPS may be contacted to request a courtesy waiver, or an appeal form may be submitted in person at the UMPS Office. Fines may be dismissed, amended to a lower amount, or revised to a warning without fine. Certain violations, such as infractions of State law, are not eligible for a courtesy provision.
4. Any citation or fees from a parking enforcement action may be appealed within 10 days of the citation’s date of action. No fine/fee payment is due while a citation is under review by the Appeals Board, unless vehicle was immobilized, towed, or an appeal was requested more than 10 days past issue date.
5. Failure to pay or submit an appeal for any citation within ten (10) working days constitutes acceptance of violation. Any citation without a courtesy waiver, not paid, or not appealed within 10 working days may be billed, and it will no longer be eligible for courtesy consideration or appeal.
Schedule/Chart of Parking Violations, Fines, and Enforcement times
|
Violation
|
Fine
|
Enforcement Times & Hours
|
|
ADA Zone Violation |
$125.00 |
24 hours, 7 days a week |
|
Fire Zone |
$ 75.00 |
24 hours, 7 days a week |
|
Reserved Parking |
$ 75.00 |
Mon-Fri, 7am-5pm & 2am-5am, (Not enforced on official UM holidays) |
|
No Permit |
$ 70.00 |
According to map location & posted signs (Not enforced on official UM holidays) |
|
Unauthorized/Altered Permit |
$ 50.00 |
Applied during area’s enforcement times.
|
|
Invalid/No License Plate/Tag |
$ 15.00 |
24 hours, 7 days a week |
|
Falsified Registration |
$ 50.00 |
24 hours, 7 days a week |
|
Improper Parking |
$ 40.00 |
24 hours, 7 days a week |
|
No Parking |
$ 50.00 |
24 hours, 7 days a week |
|
No Parking 2am-5am |
$ 40.00 |
As posted by signs or as indicated by UM’s parking map (UM Parking Website) |
|
Yellow Marked Zone |
$ 25.00 |
24 hours, 7 days a week |
|
Overtime Parking |
$ 20.00 |
24 hours, 7 days a week |
|
Special Permit |
$ 50.00 |
24 hours, 7 days a week |
Schedule of Violations Explanations.
NOTE: BOLD and Italicized violations indicate citations that are related to State or Federal Law.- ADA Violation: $125 fine (minimum of $100 fine is established by State law, § 49-4-302, MCA). Issued for any vehicle not displaying proof of valid ADA placard or endorsed license plate while parked in an ADA zone. Violation includes any sidewalk obstruction of wheelchair curb ramps, ramps for building access, access aisles between ADA spaces, areas for disabled person use, and use of an ADA permit by unauthorized person. A Disability fine shall be dismissed if vehicle operator or passenger during incident produces a valid ADA permit, which was valid for privileges at time of issue. ADA (American Disabilities Act) zones Enforced 24 hours, 7 days per week. (§ 49-4-302, MCA)
Fire Zone: $ 75.00 fine is issued to any vehicle interfering with access or use of property important for firefighting and emergency response. Violations include parking within 15ft of a fire hydrant, within any portion of a designated fire lane or route, obstructing egress from a building’s fire exit, stairway, or ladder. Enforced 24 hours, 7 days a week
Note: Campus Fire lanes are posted and/or indicated by red lines on UM Parking map.
Reserved Parking: $75 fine issued for parking in a RESERVED space without a reserved permit, misuse of a designated space’s intended purpose, or unauthorized use of a RESERVED space. Enforced Mon-Fri, 7am-5pm and Mon-Fri, 2am-5am unless posted otherwise.
No Permit: $ 70.00 fine for any vehicle without valid permit while parked where a permit is required. Violations occur when a vehicle has no record of valid permit, a parking permit was not properly displayed. a permit has expired, or when misinformation is associated with a vehicle’s permit. Any permit displayed upside down, hidden, partially obstructed, improperly marked, or shared with another vehicle parked at the same time is invalid. Enforcement times determined by parking zone/area in use.
Invalid/No License Plate/Tag: $15 fine issued to vehicle when not displaying a valid license plate or proof of valid vehicle registration. Includes a vehicle without properly displayed license plate(s), an illegible license plate or temporary tag, or any vehicle displaying a wrong or expired license plate or temp tag. A vehicle without valid license plate may be subject to towing/immobilization when VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) is covered, altered, or illegible. Enforceable 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
-
Improper Parking: $ 40 fine, violation occurs when vehicle possesses valid parking permit/credential, but positioning of parked vehicle was performed improperly. Examples include vehicles not parked within the boundary of a parking space, any vehicle parked upon an opposing side of a street where front of vehicle is facing on-coming traffic, whenever moving forward from a parking space requires motion against on-coming direction of traffic (includes back of vehicle into an angled parking space), more than 18” from any adjacent curb, and when an unoccupied vehicle rolls away from original position due to failure to set brakes, set vehicle into park, or engage transmission gearing.
No Parking: $ 50 fine issued for any vehicle parked in a location where parking is prohibited Enforced 24 hours, 7 days a week.
Examples where not to park include:
- in prohibited or closed areas (an event closure, for special occasions, or in construction zones)
- upon any lawn or walkway (paved or unpaved)
- within an intersection or obstructing any portion of a driveway, exit, or entranceway
- on a crosswalk or within 20 feet of a crosswalk
- within 30 feet upon the approach to any official traffic control device
- in a traffic-way along the side of another parked or stopped vehicle (aka double parking)
- upon any ramp-way or incline used for a building entrance/exit
- in a manner that restricts the width of any traffic lane
- at or within a bus stop zone (minimum length of any bus stop zone is 40ft)
- at any place where any official traffic control device prohibits parking or stopping
- along any route, roadway or traffic lane declared an active snow emergency route or when prohibited by any other emergency.
- not within a Motorcycle area when motorized vehicle is greater than 49cc & without pedals
No Parking, 2am-5am: $ 40.00 fine, issued to vehicle parked in area designated as No Parking 2am-5am without approval from UMPS. Parking during specific morning hours has restrictions to facilitate snow plowing/snow removal, maintenance activities, provide accommodations for events, prevent parking from being used as storage, and ensure parking space turn-over. Areas designated for UM Housing residents are enforced 2am-5am, 7 days weekly, to ensure spaces are available during night time hours for vehicles with an on-campus resident permit.
Note: GrizWalk services, operated by UM Police Department, have personnel available to drive and walk with persons, across campus and between UM campuses, from dusk until dawn. So, no one has to walk alone. Phone: (406) 243-2777 or dial 2777 from a campus phone.
Yellow Zone: $ 25 fine for a vehicle parked partially or completely along yellow curb or over marked when not in violation of a more major condition, such as a fire lane. Violation is a lower variation of no parking, which indicates an infraction of lower impact, i.e. vehicle was in approach to loading dock, but not blocking access, or it was parked in a secluded lot’s traffic lane, which didn’t affect traffic flow (no blocked traffic), or in area of low traffic volume, and it didn’t affect safety, such as being near a hydrant. The violation may, also, be for parking in a drop-off zone during at time of no activity. Parking over pavement, which is marked with yellow cross-hatch lines, may be cause for this type of infraction, also, if the safety or interference impact was low. Enforced 24 hours, 7 days a week, and throughout entire year.
Overtime Parking: $ 20 fine for any vehicle parked longer than the maximum time limit posted. Time limits are dependent upon the type of parking being used or conditions described by the type of permit. Additional citations may be issued for continual time limits exceeded.
Time-Limited Zones/Areas:
-Quick Stop spaces have a 20-minute maximum time limit unless posted otherwise.
-Service & Delivery allows 30-60 minutes maximum unless a permit provides an exemption.
-M-trail hiker space is for 60-minutes maximum.
-EV (Electric Vehicle) charging spaces allow 6 hours maximum time.
-Village Visitor Parking areas allow a 2-day (48 hours) limit without a visitor permit. (Any vehicle parked in a UM Village Visitor space more than 48 hours requires a visitor permit from Village housing office)
Time limited parking areas are Enforceable 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all year.
Hourly Pay/Meter Violation: $ 20 fine issued to a vehicle parked in an Hourly Pay space, which has no time purchased from parking meter/pay station or Passport Parking app’s portal. Enforced Mon-Fri, 7am-5pm and Mon-Fri, 2am-5am unless posted otherwise.
Special Permit: $ 50 fine issued to any vehicle in violation of a space that requires a special permit. This includes vehicles in violation of loading zones, Service & Delivery spaces, Day Care & Pre-K parking, restricted access areas, and zones requiring an event permit (i.e. concerts, football, and basketball parking permits) Enforceable 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and hours required for hosting events.