Does my city get to keep the money from parking tickets, or does the cash have to go to the county public schools?

Plain-English summary

The Wake County district attorney asked whether money collected under Raleigh's overtime-parking ordinance was a penalty for breaching a state penal law, whose "clear proceeds" would go to Wake County schools under Article IX, Section 7 of the North Carolina Constitution. The AG concluded that these fees belonged to Raleigh because its city code had decriminalized the parking offenses. Source

The opinion quotes Section 11-2025(a) of the Raleigh City Code: "Pursuant to G.S. 160A-175, all criminal penalties for these violations as set out in G.S. §14-4 are hereby removed." The AG reasoned that a violation of the overtime-parking ordinance was therefore not penal in nature, and the collected funds did not go to the school fund. Source

The opinion relies on Cauble v. City of Asheville, 301 N.C. 340 (1980), which treated fines for criminal overtime-parking violations as proceeds of a breach of the State's penal laws. The cited decision also explained that G.S. § 14-4 made a city ordinance violation criminal unless the council provided otherwise under G.S. § 160A-175(b). Source

Currency note

This opinion was issued in September 1997 about Raleigh's ordinance as quoted in the letter. Check the current city code and state law before applying it to present collections.

Background and statutory framework

The constitutional question turned on whether the collected money came from a breach of state penal law or only a city ordinance. The AG quoted Cauble on that distinction and applied Raleigh's express removal of criminal penalties. The opinion addresses where the overtime-parking money goes; it does not decide how much the city may charge. Source

The letter refers to an enclosed copy of the Raleigh City Code provision. That enclosure is absent from the stored original text, although the opinion quotes the clause on which its conclusion depends. Source

Common questions

Did the AG say Raleigh's overtime-parking fees belonged to the county school fund?

No. Because Raleigh had decriminalized the cited parking offense, the AG concluded the funds "remain with the City for its use." Source

Would the same answer follow if the parking violation remained criminal?

The opinion explains that in Cauble, fines for a misdemeanor parking violation went to the county school fund. Its conclusion for Raleigh depends on Raleigh's express removal of criminal penalties. Source

Did the opinion set a maximum parking fee?

No. It addresses the destination of the collected money and does not analyze a fee or penalty cap. Source

Source

• Landing page: https://ncdoj.gov/opinions/raleigh-city-overtime-parking-fees-fines-penalties-and-forfeitures/

Citations

• N.C. Const. art. IX, § 7
• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-4
• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 160A-175
• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 160A-175(b)
• Cauble v. City of Asheville, 301 N.C. 340 (1980)
• Board of Education v. Henderson, 126 N.C. 689 (1900)

Original opinion text

September 16, 1997

The Honorable C. Colon Willoughy, Jr.
District Attorney
Tenth Judicial District
P. O. Box 31
Raleigh, NC 27602-0031

RE: Advisory Opinion; Raleigh City Overtime Parking Fees; Fines, Penalties and Forfeitures; Article IX, Section 7 of the North Carolina Constitution

Dear Mr. Willoughby:

You request our opinion whether monies collected by the City of Raleigh from motorists who violate its ordinance prohibiting overtime parking constitutes a penalty for a breach of a state penal law, the "clear proceeds" of which must be used for the Wake County Schools pursuant to Article IX, Section 7 of the North Carolina Constitution.

For reasons which follow, because the Raleigh City Code (copy enclosed) decriminalizes all of its parking offenses, it is our opinion that the monies collected by the City of Raleigh for violation of its ordinance prohibiting overtime parking belong to the City.

Section 11-2025 of the Raleigh City Code decriminalizes all of Raleigh's parking offenses. In light of the fact that Raleigh has decriminalized its overtime parking ordinance, the North Carolina Supreme Court's decision in Cauble v. City of Asheville, 301 N.C. 340 (1980) controls.

In Cauble, the Court concluded that because a violation of the parking ordinance was a misdemeanor and therefore a breach of the "penal laws of the state," the clear proceeds paid by motorists for violations of the overtime parking ordinance belong to the county school fund pursuant to Article IX, Section 7 of the North Carolina Constitution. The Cauble Court made crystal clear, however, that had the City decriminalized its parking ordinance, the overtime parking fees would not go to the county school fund, but would stay with the City. As the Cauble Court stated:

The inquiry addressed . . . was whether the monies in dispute were collected for violations of the criminal laws of the state or for violations of city ordinances. The Court [Board of Education v. Henderson, 126 N.C. 689 (1900)] determined that since G.S. § 14-4 makes violations of city ordinances misdemeanors, the sums in question were collected for breach of the State's penal laws.

We hold that the same result [as was reached by the Henderson Court] must ensue here. The Asheville Code makes it unlawful to park overtime. G.S. § 14-4 specifically makes criminal the violation of a city ordinance, unless 'the council shall provide otherwise' pursuant to G.S. § 160A-175(b). Thus, where, as here, the ordinances do not provide otherwise, a person who violates the overtime parking ordinance also breaches the penal law of the State. [Citations omitted.] Consequently, fines collected for overtime parking constitute fines collected for a breach of the penal laws of the State. We, therefore, hold that the clear proceeds of all penalties, forfeitures and fines collected for breaches of the ordinances in question remain in Buncombe County and be used exclusively for the maintenance of free public schools. [Emphasis supplied.] Id. at 344, 345.

As instructed by the Cauble Court, the Raleigh City Council in subsection (a) of Section 11-2025 declared: "Pursuant to G.S. 160A-175, all criminal penalties for these violations as set out in G.S. §14-4 are hereby removed." We conclude, therefore, since the Raleigh City overtime parking ordinance is not penal in nature, but is collected for a breach of the ordinance, the funds collected for parking overtime do not go to the public school fund but remain with the City for its use.

Should you have any other questions, please feel free to contact us.

Andrew A. Vanore, Jr.
Chief Deputy Attorney General