After 16 months of research and design, the Corpus Christi Police Department will soon launch the 2^nd phase of the Parking Control unit upgrades. In the ongoing first phase, parking meter rates were increased and technology-based parking meters replaced 35-50 year old mechanical meters. Soon the new credit card meters will be installed.  The new meters are projected to pay for themselves within a 12 month period, due to increased efficiency and added payment options. Within three years, 40% of the gross revenue will go into a revitalization project for downtown, uptown and Corpus Christi Beach. 

Phase Two addresses the enforcement, citation and adjudication process. The majority of parking violations will be issued on electronic ticket-writers; used by cities nationwide. The new electronic citations will look similar to the hand-written version, but will be inserted into one of two multi-colored envelopes designating the court of jurisdiction, then placed under the windshield wiper of the violator’s vehicle. 

The savings created by the electronic ticket-writers and additional revenue generated by their efficiency is noteworthy. The 20,000+ parking citations (including disabled parking violations) generated annually by hand-written citations require one to two employees just to enter them into the system. 

Studies have shown that in the best of systems only 80% of hand-written citations are entered; cities with electronic ticket writers see 99% of tickets processed and entered. This provides for a significant increase in revenue. 

The launch of the new Office of Administrative Hearings (civil court) further reduces the city’s operational cost of adjudicating parking citations, increases efficiency of collecting those debts generated by violators, and offers numerous simplified payment options. 

Corpus Christi joins the majority of cities nationwide in decriminalizing most parking citations to civil violations, much like the Red Light Camera violations. Some parking offenses, however, such as disabled parking, fire lanes, blocking sidewalks and blocking fire hydrants remain criminal violations by state statutes. 

The staffing and operational costs of civil courts are much lower than traditional courts and the simplified adjudication process and payment options help reduce the tension in violators. 

The new Corpus Christi system is state-of-the-art technology, fully automated and virtually paperless. Where the criminal adjudication system currently only allows only for payments by mail or paying in person, the new civil system provides violators with multiple payment options. Violators can now pay online, pay by phone, pay by mail and pay in-person. Beginning in February, violators will be able to pay-by-smart phone, and beginning in March payments can be made at an electronic kiosk located in the court lobby. 

Violators who wish to challenge parking citations can simply walk into the civil court weekdays between the hours of 10:00 am and 6:00 pm and have the case heard by a Hearing Officer in minutes. 

This project includes partnering the city with Brazos Technologies and Duncan Solutions. “Our adjudication system with Duncan Solutions includes a web-based management software along with the outsourcing of the citation, payment, collection and accounting processing, with a professionally manned call center operating Monday through Friday from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm” states City Parking Control Supervisor Marc Denson. “This allows for exceptional customer service and significantly reduced operational costs.

 The partnership with Brazos Technologies improves systems integrity and accountability, while providing for the automated uploading of citations consistently throughout the day and automatically fed into the court software system. No more standing in long lines at the counter or waiting days for the citation to get in the system.” 

Denson adds, “Let’s face it, none of us like getting a ticket, but exceptional customer service, the speed and efficiency of the system and simplified payment options should take some of the sting out of the process.