If you wish to report a vehicle parked illegally or abandoned, call our non-emergency number at 582-2000. Please only report one violation per phone call. Location, vehicle description and vehicle license help. A parking or patrol officer will be assigned and issue a parking citation, if warranted, or begin the process to remove an abandoned vehicle.

If you feel your parking violation should be dismissed, complete an appeal form and mail to: City of Bozeman 121 N Rouse PO Box 1230, Bozeman Montana 59771. You may bring the form in, or mail it in. Your appeal must be presented within 7 days of the infraction to avoid further penalties. Appeals are reviewed by the original officer within a reasonable amount of time. If your appeal is denied you may contest this citation to the Municipal Court Judge.

There are parking spaces, typically in parking lots which are signed “compact cars only”. This is typically done because of space limitations or due to some other restriction such as larger vehicles blocking the view of vehicles at an intersection. A “compact car” is first of all a car. Not a pickup truck, not a truck, not a motor home, not a trailer, no matter how they are named. It is less than 15 feet in length (the average car is about 20 feet) and less than 5 feet 9 inches in width.

Known by several names such as the “Rolling Rule” or “Rolling Block Rule”, Municipal Ordinance 10.32.250 was adopted by the City Commission in 2003 to prevent “rolling” or moving a vehicle within the same block to avoid the time limit. Since it is impossible to distinguish between a vehicle that has left and returned, and one that has simply moved within the same block, the ordinance requires anyone who has parked to leave the block face for 3 hours.

Parking around the corner or across the street is not a violation, only parking on the same block face; for instance, after parking in the 100 block of East Main Street on the North side, parking across the street on the South side or around the corner on either Black or Bozeman would not be a violation.