Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 16, March 25, 2024
A.
Appeals in general.
1. The procedures provided
herein apply to all Virginia Museum of Fine Arts staff, volunteers,
contractors, visitors, and others who use agency parking facilities. This
procedure is designed to assist the museum's chief operating officer in
evaluating the parking program, to highlight problem areas, to provide an
avenue to correct enforcement errors, and to provide a means of
redress.
2. The chief operating
officer has the responsibility of monitoring the policy and directing creation
of new or revision of existing policies and procedures.
B. Appeals procedure.
1. Requests for an appeal may be done in
person within 10 calendar days of the issue date of the citation.
2. Head, Risk Management and Protective
Services will normally function as the appeals officer, the chief operating
officer in his absence.
3. The
appeals officer will carefully review each appeal. The appeals officer will
base his decision on this regulation and on the information presented. The
appeals officer may approve the appeal (dismiss the citation), deny the appeal
(uphold the citation), or downgrade the violation to an appropriate lesser
violation.
4. The appellant can
appeal the decision of the hearing officer (see subsection G of this section,
Parking Appeals Board). Any fines due after the appeal has been heard must be
paid within 15 days of notice of the decision.
5. Failure to pay will result in the
accumulation of late fees and the individual's outstanding account being turned
over to a collection agency, the Virginia Department of Taxation Division of
Set-Off Debt Collection, and credit bureaus. If the account remains unpaid, the
individual becomes responsible for the payment of all additional agency costs.
Collection costs may be as much as one-third of the balance due.
6. Any staff, volunteer, or visitor may
appeal in person or fill out a parking citation appeal form within 10 calendar
days of the citation. Forms are available from the Parking Services Manager.
Contact the Parking Services Office for office hours and location of hearing
officer.
7. Fines associated with
appealed citations need not be paid until the appellant is advised of the
decision. All appeals must be submitted with the appellant's name, address, and
telephone number. Appeals submitted without this information will not be
processed.
C. Hearing
officer decision guidelines.
1. The citation
and fine is presumed valid. It is the obligation of the appellant to present
information that would invalidate the ticket.
2. Reasons that might warrant invalidation of
the ticket are evidence of illness that necessitated the violation, mechanical
breakdowns that were handled in a reasonably expeditious manner, documented
erroneous information given by a Parking Services Office employee, or other
circumstances that are unusual enough to warrant special
consideration.
3. Reason to warrant
a downgrade of the ticket are when further information that was not readily
available to the citing officer is provided to the reviewer as a justification
for the downgrade, valid misunderstandings regarding ambiguous parking areas in
the judgment of the reviewer, etc.
4. A specific reason for denial need not be
given. A general statement can be made that a sufficient reason for reversal
was not made.
D. Time
limit on filing appeals. Failure to file an appeal in 10 calendar days of the
issue date of the citation will result in the addition of a late fee of $10 to
the fine in accordance with this regulation. No appeals will be considered more
than 30 calendar days from the issue of the citation.
E. Final appeal, parking board of appeals.
Hearing officer determinations may be appealed to the appeals board.
Notification of a determination will provide information stating if an
additional appeal process is available as an option. A request for
reconsideration of denied appeals to an appeals board must be made within 10
calendar days from the time a decision was made by the hearing officer. For an
appeal to be reconsidered by the appeals board, the appellant must schedule a
hearing and be present at that hearing. The appellant will have the opportunity
to present his case directly to the board members. The decision of the board
members is final.
F. Parking
citation and fine liability. Ultimately, the registered owner of a vehicle is
responsible for all citations and fines issued to said vehicle whether or not
the owner was in fact the driver. In addition to the registered owner of the
vehicle, the holder of a VMFA parking permit may also be held financially
responsible for citations and fines issued to the vehicle for which the permit
is registered.
G. Parking appeals
board. A parking appeals board will be appointed monthly and convene twice a
month to hear parking citation appeals and advise the chief operating officer
on parking related matters. The board consists of three VMFA staff members
rotationally selected by the Office of Human Resources.
Statutory Authority
§ 23-9.2:3 of the Code of Virginia.
