NEW: Mayor Randall Woodfin to pardon $35M in parking tickets issued prior to January 1, 2011

In a press conference on Tuesday, March 22, Mayor Randall Woodfin announced a major initiative to provide second chances. The Stop and Go initiative will pardon all outstanding traffic fines and parking violations issued prior to January 1, 2011. Keep reading to learn more.

A new initiative to provide a second chance: Stop and Go

Stop and Go, which stands for “Suspend Traffic Obligations Permanently & Grant Opportunities”, will pardon $35M worth of traffic fines and parking violations.

According to Mayor Woodfin, there are over 750,000 unpaid traffic and parking violations in the Birmingham municipal court that date prior to January 2011, with some dating as far back as 1958.

“Many of those numbers represent individuals who have experienced devastating financial hardships. Some of them have experienced homelessness or are homeless. Some of these people cannot read and can’t read their parking or traffic ticket because of illiteracy. Some have been incarcerated for a significant amount of time.

Some of them are afraid to do business or call the Birmingham police department if they actually need help, because of warrants that exist from not paying these fines, and I think it’s time we do something about that.”

Randall Woodfin, Mayor, City of Birmingham

With the executive authority under Section 12-14-15 of the Code of Alabama, the mayor has the power to remit fines and grant pardons. In 2021, Mayor Woodfin announced that 15,000+ people would be pardoned for single marinjuana possession convictions in the city of Birmingham between 1990 and 2020.

The details of the Stop and Go initiative

This new initiative will pardon all outstanding traffic fines and parking violations in Birmingham Municipal Court prior to January 1, 2011. It excludes misdemeanors, felonies and serious driving offenses such as DUIs.

“The goal of this initiative is to give individuals economic relief and remove this as a roadblock for moving forward. It’s to provide a second chance.”

Randall Woodfin, Mayor, City of Birmingham

The total of the outstanding fees lands at $35M—but, since the city doesn’t recognize revenue until it’s collected, this initiative won’t create any debt in the city’s budget.

Know someone who’s affected by the Stop and Go initiative—or are you yourself one of the 750,000 whose parking ticket will be forgiven? You don’t need to do anything! The pardon is effective immediately.

Learn more at birminghamal.gov/stopandgo, and email stopandgo@birminghamal.gov or call 205.254.2702 with any questions.

What are your thoughts on this new initiative? Tag @BhamNow to let us know!