CC MEETING: January 6, 2026
DATE: December 11, 2025
TO: Erin Rinehart, City Manager
FROM: Roberto Arredondo, Chief of Police
Rex Redden, Executive Director of Public Safety
Title
Consider An Ordinance Of The City Of Carrollton, Texas, Amending Article VII, Chapter 72 Of The Carrollton City Code By Adding Section 72.13 Creating Specific Parking Prohibitions Consistent With The Texas Transportation Code And Amending Article VII, Chapter 70 Of The Carrollton City Code By Adding Section 70.55 Authorizing Public Safety Officers, In Addition To Sworn Peace Officers, To Enforce And Issue Notices For Parking Violations Set Forth In Chapter 72; And Establishing A Penalty Of Up To $500.
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BACKGROUND:
The City of Carrollton frequently receives complaints related to parking violations, including vehicles parked in fire lanes, blocking driveways, or violating posted time and zone restrictions. While these violations negatively impact neighborhood quality of life, business access, and public safety, they are generally considered a lower priority than in-progress calls for service, traffic collisions, and other emergent incidents handled by sworn police officers. As a result, parking-related complaints are not always addressed as quickly or consistently as residents and businesses would prefer.
Carrollton’s Public Safety Officers (PSOs) are already utilized to support the Police Department by handling non-emergency functions and lower-risk tasks that do not require a sworn police officer, but are not authorized to conduct enforcement of state traffic or parking statues. Authorizing PSOs to issue citations for violations of municipal parking and related ordinances will allow the City to more effectively address these recurring concerns. This approach keeps enforcement within the scope of local code, maintains a clear distinction between PSO responsibilities and sworn officer authority, and provides an additional resource for timely response to quality-of-life issues.
By enabling PSOs to enforce municipal parking ordinances, sworn officers can remain focused on higher-priority calls and proactive crime reduction efforts, while PSOs provide more consistent, visible, and timely enforcement of parking rules. This change is intended to improve responsiveness to community complaints, enhance safety and accessibility in neighborhoods and commercial areas, and better align City resources with the volume and nature of parking-related concerns.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
The financial impact of this agenda item is undeterminable, but will increase the existing revenue from parking notices, and will be directly correlated with the number of additional new notices issued annually
by the Public Safety Officers. The additional revenues cannot be projected at this time.
IMPACT ON COMMUNITY SUSTAINABILITY:
The proposed amendment will support the City Council’s strategic objectives and vision of building a community that families and businesses want to call home by:
• Improving the timely resolution of recurring parking complaints that affect residents and businesses.
• Promoting consistent enforcement of local ordinances to support orderly use of streets and shared spaces.
• Allowing sworn officers to remain focused on higher-priority calls, enhancing overall public safety response.
Strengthening community confidence that concerns about parking and access are heard and addressed
STAFF RECOMMENDATION/ACTION DESIRED:
Staff recommends adopting an ordinance amending the Carrollton City Code to authorize Public Safety Officers to issue citations for municipal parking and related ordinance violations