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Council approves amendment to close court loophole in residential parking‑permit code
Summary
Fishers council approved an amendment to Section 72.17 of the Fishers Code to align residential parking‑permit language with handicapped parking rules and prevent a defense used in city court that a vehicle was unattended or not the driver’s; the council suspended the rules and approved on roll call.
The Fishers City Council approved an amendment to the residential parking‑permit ordinance intended to close a court‑tested loophole that allowed defendants to argue a vehicle was unattended or not theirs at the time of a violation.
Lindsey Bennett, Corporation Counsel, said city prosecutors encountered a defense in Fishers City Court because language that makes it not a defense for a vehicle to be unattended was present in the handicapped‑parking ordinance but missing from the residential parking section. “We had somebody go in and say, ‘Why wasn't [the driver] even in the car at the time, and it's not my car?’ and the judge found the language missing,” Bennett said. The amendment inserts comparable language and other scrivener corrections so the same defense cannot be raised against residential parking permit violations.
Council moved to suspend the rules for immediate consideration and approved the ordinance on roll call.
What happens next: the amendment takes effect per the usual ordinance timeline and will be enforced in city court; staff noted they will implement the updated language in code enforcement and court procedures.
Provenance: Presentation and council vote (topic introduced SEG 154–159; suspension and final vote SEG 193–240).
