Woman disputes parking ticket after license plate stolen

SANDY, Ore. - A retired Sandy woman was shocked to get a parking ticket in the mail demanding she pay $40. She was shocked because she hasn't been in downtown Portland - where the ticket was written - for 20 to 25 years.

Pat Thomas told KATU she can't afford the ticket; besides, she says, not only has she not been in downtown Portland in more than two decades, but the license plate the ticket was written on was stolen from her car two weeks earlier.

Thomas has a deputy’s report on the stolen plate proving it was taken and she has Oregon DMV receipts showing she almost immediately got new plates.

Thomas says she tried to work with Multnomah County Circuit Court to resolve the issue but a court clerk repeatedly demanded she pay the ticket.

"He told me the judge wasn't going to even pay attention to my letter, because it didn't have a police report," she said.

Thomas says she then provided that report written by a Multnomah County deputy, but the demands for money kept coming.

"I highlighted it, so they couldn't miss it," she says. 

She says even that did not stop the demand letters from being mailed to her house.

The fine even grew, doubling to $80 at first and then on March 16 to $166. That demand came from the Oregon Department of Revenue and it said if Thomas didn't pay, the state would take it out of her tax return.

KATU went over the county's rules for paying tickets, and they do state that you can send a letter disputing you are responsible. But you have to pay the parking citation at the same time and hope the court agrees and gives your money back. Under that option you waive your right to a jury trial.

The Multnomah County Trial Court Administrator told KATU someone can also insist on a jury trial from the start. He told KATU he will take a look at the case and see if he can find a resolution.

Pat Thomas says she hopes so, because she just wants to put this whole matter behind her.

"I've jumped through all of their little hoops. Now all they are doing is causing me grief," she said.