Camera tickets in New Orleans are not real tickets. They are civil penalties. If someone were driving your car and sped, you would get the ticket, not the offender. It's valid because you loaned your car to an irresponsible person. If you want to fight it, you basically have to bring the driver and they have to fess up. Or you have to produce a police report showing you notified them your car was stolen. They are about generating money. At least with the police writing a ticket, the unwelcome behavior is interrupted. With the camera tickets, the behavior continues and the registered owner is notified via letter weeks later.
If you don't pay the fine and you park on the street, they can boot your car. And by "they" I mean the department of public works. The real police don't deal with those other than to review the video from the cameras and say yes or no. And the courts made them do that. Initially it was a civilian who worked for public works.
If it were the case that I had any unpaid parking tickets from 10+ years ago, I might have noticed there were no entries on my credit nor any outstanding court cases. The tickets don't show up on your driving record. They are only listed in a database maintained by the city. And I believe they are referenced by individual car by the plate number and not by driver. So if you get a new vehicle, and new plate, the authorization to boot your car does not follow you.
Sec. 154-1704. - Effect of liability; exclusion of civil remedy.
(a)The imposition of a civil penalty under this article shall not be considered a criminal conviction.
(b)A civil penalty may not be imposed under this article upon the owner of a motor vehicle, if the operator of the vehicle was arrested or was issued a speeding citation and notice to appear by a law or public safety officer as a violation of R.S. 32:232, even if such violation was captured by the automated traffic enforcement system. The imposition of a civil penalty under this article is an alternative method of detecting and deterring red-light violations and speeding.
(c)An owner who fails to pay the civil penalty or to timely challenge liability for the penalty is considered to admit liability for the full amount of the civil penalty stated in the notice of violation mailed to the vehicle owner, and the matter will be transmitted to the parking adjudication bureau of the city. The city attorney is authorized to file suit to enforce collection of unpaid fines and/or related fees and penalties imposed under section 154-1703 to secure such payments.
(d)If the owner fails to timely respond to the second notice, the department of public works is authorized to enforce the payment of this civil penalty and related fees by use of the following methods: immobilization of vehicles (booting), towing and impounding, reporting the debt to collection agencies/credit reporting agencies, and/or initiating actions through the court.
