Got a parking ticket in Tulsa? Pay it, fight it, or keep the car off the Tow List

City citation or private lot notice: check who wrote it

A City of Tulsa parking ticket charges you with breaking a city ordinance, and Tulsa Municipal Court at 600 Civic Center handles it. The court's sample ticket page says it can come from a Tulsa Police officer or a Code Enforcement officer.

A slip from a garage, an apartment complex or a store lot is different. Private companies run parking garages and surface lots, and the City says “the City of Tulsa is only responsible for on-street parking.” A company's notice is not a city citation, so take it up with the company named on it and ask for its photos and time records.

Two rules cross that line. Oklahoma law makes parking on posted private property without permission a misdemeanor, with a fine of up to $20 plus the owner's towing and storage costs (47 O.S. § 11-1006). And Tulsa's disabled-parking ordinance covers private lots open to the public, so police can write a city citation there. Towed instead? See towed or impounded in Tulsa.

Source: City of Tulsa: About Your Traffic Ticket; City of Tulsa: View a Traffic Ticket; City of Tulsa: Downtown Parking FAQ; City of Tulsa: Search the Tow List (parking citation rules); Tulsa Revised Ordinances Title 37, Chapter 5, parking regulations (Municode); Oklahoma Statutes Title 47, sections 11-1003, 11-1006 and 11-1007 (PDF).

Reading the ticket: the date, the number and the 10-day clock

The towed and impounded guide covers the two ticket types. On a parking ticket, check three things.

• The issue date. You have ten days from it, not counting Saturdays, Sundays and City holidays, to pay the printed fine before late fees are added.
• The ticket number. Paying online takes it plus the validation number. Its last digit sets your court division: 1 to 3 is Division I, 4 to 6 is Division II, and 7 to 9 or 0 is Division III.
• The tag. Parking tickets are written against the car, and Tulsa's code presumes the registered owner parked it. Make sure the tag is yours.

A new ticket can take 7 to 10 days to appear in the online payment system.

Source: City of Tulsa: Search the Tow List (parking citation rules); City of Tulsa: Court EPay site and its terms; City of Tulsa: Municipal Court Rules, Rule 2; Tulsa Revised Ordinances Title 37, Chapter 3, Sections 303-318 (Municode).

How to pay a Tulsa parking ticket

• Online at the court's EPay site, with the ticket and validation numbers. Paying there waives a trial, and “A plea of No Contest and a finding of Guilty will be entered.” Online payments cannot be cancelled, and those made after 6:30 p.m. Central count on the next business day. Keep the receipt at least 90 days.
• In person, with cash or a card at the cashier windows at City Hall, 175 E. 2nd St. or Municipal Court, 600 Civic Center. Bring a valid driver's license.
• By mail: a check or money order made out to City of Tulsa, sent to Tulsa Municipal Court, 600 Civic Center, Tulsa, OK 74103, with the citation number and your tag number or VIN. No cash.
• Thursday Night Court, open until 7 p.m. for payments and payment plans. After October 15, the 2026 dates are November 5 and 19 and December 3 and 17. At least 48 hours ahead, check with Court Records at (918) 596-1625 that your ticket qualifies and book a date.

Once a ticket is late, the court says it can no longer be paid online.

Source: City of Tulsa: Court EPay site and its terms; City of Tulsa: Municipal Court, Tickets; City of Tulsa: About Your Traffic Ticket; City of Tulsa: Municipal Court (add-ons, Night Court, warrants, waiver, cost hearing); City of Tulsa: Court EPayment.

How to contest a parking ticket or get it dismissed

To contest, you see a municipal judge by joining that day's docket as an add-on: the Court Records window, Room 228, 600 Civic Center, 8 to 9 a.m. on a weekday. The court's ticket page says to do this within 30 days of the issue date. Its tow list page also describes pleading not guilty inside the ten-day window by posting a cash bond equal to the fine plus court costs, so ask Court Records which fits. No add-ons are taken during jury weeks, and the next one is October 26-30, 2026.

If you are convicted, costs can be added: Tulsa's schedule lists $46 for an arraignment, and a parking conviction adds a $5 technology fee. At a cost hearing, a judge weighs what you can afford and can waive some or all of the costs.

The Responsible Driver Waiver

Left the car at a downtown meter and took a cab, bus or ride-share home for safety? You can ask to have the overtime meter ticket dismissed. The waiver covers only overtime on-street parking, the car can have no other unpaid parking tickets, and “Vehicles left overnight must be moved by twelve o’clock noon the following day.” Within ten business days, take the form, a copy of the ticket and a ride receipt showing the date and time to the Court Clerk (Room 228) or the City Prosecutor (Room 109).

Source: City of Tulsa: Municipal Court, Tickets; City of Tulsa: Search the Tow List (parking citation rules); City of Tulsa: Municipal Court (add-ons, Night Court, warrants, waiver, cost hearing); Tulsa Revised Ordinances Title 23, Section 108, court costs (Municode); City of Tulsa: Responsible Driver Waiver form (PDF).

The parking rules behind common Tulsa tickets, and their fines

Tulsa sets preset fines for most parking offenses in Title 37, Section 203 of its code, last amended in March 2026. The amount printed on your ticket is what you owe.

What the ticket is for	Tulsa ordinance	Preset fine
Within 10 feet of a fire hydrant	Title 37, § 522.D	$100
In a fire lane or safety zone	§ 522.L	$100
On a sidewalk, or between the sidewalk and the curb	§ 522.A, 522.J	$75
Over a sidewalk or across a driveway, to any degree	§ 522.B, 522.O	$50
On grass instead of a hard all-weather surface	§ 522.R	$50
Facing against traffic, or more than 12 inches from the curb	§ 511.C	$35
Left on a public street more than 24 hours	§ 519	$35
Overtime at a meter	§ 500	$25

Hydrants. Tulsa's line is 10 feet, but state law, 47 O.S. § 11-1003, says 15. Leave 15 feet and you clear both.

The wrong side of the street. A car parked on a Tulsa street must face the way traffic moves, with its curb-side wheels within 12 inches of the curb. Parking on the left side of a two-way street, nose to oncoming traffic, breaks that rule.

Driveways and lawns. A pickup too long for its driveway can be ticketed for hanging over the sidewalk, even at home. On the lawn, a Code Enforcement flyer is plain: “Parking is permitted only on a legal all-weather surface in accordance with Tulsa’s zoning code.”

Source: Tulsa Revised Ordinances Title 37, Section 203, fine schedule (Municode); Tulsa Revised Ordinances Title 37, Chapter 5, parking regulations (Municode); Oklahoma Statutes Title 47, sections 11-1003, 11-1006 and 11-1007 (PDF); City of Tulsa Code Enforcement: Parking Surfaces flyer (PDF).

If you don't pay: late fees, warrants, collections and the boot

1. Late fees. After the ten-day window, late fees join the fine. The court cost schedule lists a $30 late fee.
2. A warrant. Tulsa's code tells the court clerk to issue an arrest warrant when someone fails to comply with a citation left on a vehicle. Check the Tulsa Police warrant search or call (918) 596-7761.
3. Collections. Warrant and failure-to-pay cases can go to a collection agency. The court's page says that adds up to 35 percent, while the ordinance, last amended in June 2025, caps the fee a judge orders at 30% of the original debt.
4. The boot. Once a car has two or more outstanding parking tickets, the court sends the registered owner written notice of a hearing. A judge can then declare the car a public nuisance and order it impounded, and “A vehicle appearing on the Tow List may be towed or have a disabling boot placed on it at any time.” Tow, storage and boot charges can come on top.

The City's Tow List is searchable by tag. Its 12 October 2026 update held 7,104 vehicles: 443 with notice dates in 2026, 4,375 with exactly two violations, and the oldest notice dated December 1992. If yours is booted, see a judge on the 8 to 9 a.m. add-on docket.

Tulsa's code leaves parking violations out of the conviction reports its court sends to Service Oklahoma. If you cannot pay in full, ask on the add-on docket for a payment plan or a cost hearing. The City has also run amnesty periods, such as June 5-16, 2023, when preset parking fines could be paid without late fees.

Source: City of Tulsa: Search the Tow List (parking citation rules); City of Tulsa: Tow List search, updated 12 October 2026; Tulsa Revised Ordinances Title 23, Section 108, court costs (Municode); Tulsa Revised Ordinances Title 23, Section 116, collections (Municode); City of Tulsa: Municipal Court (add-ons, Night Court, warrants, waiver, cost hearing); City of Tulsa: Tulsa Police warrant search; Tulsa Revised Ordinances Title 37, Chapter 3, Sections 303-318 (Municode); Tulsa Police: parking amnesty days, 2 June 2023.

Disabled parking: a $500 fine under Oklahoma law

Under 47 O.S. § 11-1007, parking in a posted disabled space without a valid placard or disability plate displayed is a misdemeanor with a $500 fine. So is parking in the access aisle or on a wheelchair ramp, placard or not, and the car can be towed at once at the owner's cost.

Tulsa's ordinance applies the rule on public property and in private lots open to the public. Its preset fines are $500 for the space, $500 for the access aisle without a placard, and $50 with one displayed.

If a valid placard or plate had been issued to you, or to the disabled passenger you were driving, show the court proof within 10 days, not counting weekends and legal holidays, and the charge is dismissed without costs. Displayed an expired placard? A first offense is dismissed if you bring a Service Oklahoma notice of a valid placard within 30 days. Service Oklahoma issues placards at no charge.

Source: Oklahoma Statutes Title 47, sections 11-1003, 11-1006 and 11-1007 (PDF); Tulsa Revised Ordinances Title 37, Chapter 5, parking regulations (Municode); Tulsa Revised Ordinances Title 37, Section 203, fine schedule (Municode); Service Oklahoma: Disability Placard.

Downtown meters: ParkMobile, pay stations and the two-hour limit

Downtown street parking is limited to two hours and enforced Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The ordinance rate is 50 cents a half hour, and time limits do not apply on weekends or City holidays. Hydrants, fire lanes, disabled spaces, alleys and loading zones are another matter: the City's 2019 pay-station announcement called those enforceable 24/7.

Most payment runs on your plate number: the ParkMobile app (your plate, the zone number posted on nearby signs, and the time), a pay station that takes coins or cards, or the phone line, 1-877-727-5715.

Paying again does not stretch the limit. Staying past it is overtime, and leaving and re-entering a space to dodge a posted limit is its own violation. Residents of the downtown parking districts can apply to the Finance Department for a $5-a-month loading zone permit, good for 30-minute loading stops at home.

Source: City of Tulsa: Downtown Parking; City of Tulsa: How to Pay for downtown parking; City of Tulsa: new downtown pay stations, 16 January 2019; Tulsa Revised Ordinances Title 37, Chapter 5, parking regulations (Municode).

A ticket on a car you already sold

Tulsa's code presumes the registered owner parked the car, but that is only a starting point, so proof of the sale date matters. Hearing notices go to the address on the state registration record, which may still show you if the buyer has not registered the car.

• Do not pay it online: that enters a no contest plea and a guilty finding.
• Gather the signed title or bill of sale, your Service Oklahoma filing confirmation and proof of the handover date.
• Call Court Records at (918) 596-1625 to ask what to bring, then take it to the 8 to 9 a.m. add-on docket.

The after-you-sell checklist covers the plate and the filings that put a sale on record.

Source: Tulsa Revised Ordinances Title 37, Chapter 3, Sections 303-318 (Municode); City of Tulsa: Court EPay site and its terms; City of Tulsa: Municipal Court (add-ons, Night Court, warrants, waiver, cost hearing).