criminal-law civil-law traffic pennsylvania parking
What can a city do for parking tickets
<p>I have read the question and answer here: <a href="https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/4507/are-parking-tickets-enforcable">Are parking tickets enforcable</a></p>

<p>But I would like to know that if a person got a parking ticket in Pennsylvania for a street sweeper violation and didn't know until they got a registered letter from the city.</p>

<p>In that letter, they state that a person can plead not guilty (and send in a bond amount) or guilty. Which leads me to think that it's a criminal offense and not a civil one.</p>

<p>If it's a criminal offense, wouldn't the burden of proof be on the city to prove that a particular person (and not just the owner) did the parking? Or is it really sufficient to serve the person who they think is the owner?</p>

<p>Can they really issue a warrant for arrest if the owner might not have ever set foot in that state before?</p>

<p>If personal service isn't made (as outlined in the above question) then is a parking ticket in PA really enforceable?</p>

<p>What if the owner of the car doesn't live in Pennsylvania and instead lives in Texas? Can they be extradited to PA from TX or placed under arrest somehow?</p>

<p>The procedure depends on the local rules. For example, <a href="http://library.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll/Pennsylvania/philadelphia_pa/thephiladelphiacode?f=templates$fn=default.htm$3.0$vid=amlegal:philadelphia_pa" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Philadelphia</a>.</p>

<p>In Philadelphia, parking offences are civil, not criminal - other governments may be different.</p>

<p>Irrespective of if it is civil or criminal, the burden is on the city. All that is different is the burden: for civil it is the preponderance of the evidence (or balance of probabilities), for criminal it is beyond reasonable doubt.</p>

<p>Under Philadelphia law, anyone driving with the owner's permission is an agent of the owner so serving them <em>is</em> serving the owner. There is an exemption that car rental companies can avail themselves of.</p>

<p>The can take whatever enforcement action the law allows - this may include issuing an arrest warrant.</p>

<p>Serving by post or affixing to the vehicle is legally service.</p>

<p>If there is a valid warrant, they can be extradited from anywhere subject to relevant extradition law - most extradition laws require the crime to be "serious" - parking violations probably aren't. </p>
