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Hartford Parking Authority Tickets State Marshals, Who Say They Can't Be Ticketed

Beth Ostrowski spends most of her day in her car.

“We are just about going to the insurance commissioner," she told me, as we drove through downtown Hartford.

Ostrowski is a state marshal. And it’s her job to serve things like subpoenas, restraining and protective orders, and divorce papers. She’s also hired to evict people. She has two big priorities: to be safe, and to move quickly. To do that, she often parks where most of us can’t. 

"You’re going to see how quickly we are in and out of Market Street," Ostrowski said as she drove. Serving the paperwork took just over four minutes, during which time Ostrowski's car was in a no-parking zone. That's how she and her fellow marshals always do it.

As of late last year, though, they've gotten the attention of the Hartford Parking Authority -- which has starting ticketing the marshals when they are illegally parked. But the marshals say they’re exempt from traffic laws, and, now, the two sides are fighting it out in state court.

Ostrowski said it's her state-sanctioned role to efficiently serve legal process. So even though there's a public parking garage just across the street, she doesn't park there. She never does. Parking garages cost money. And -- for a marshal serving a couple dozen processes a day -- they take too much time. 

Ostrowski and others, like attorney Edward Noble III, say that state statute exempts them from traffic laws.

"Our position is that it’s a blanket immunity," said Noble, who is representing a different marshal in court on an appeal of a parking ticket. He said that marshal got pinched for parking in a loading zone. As he reads the law, it’s clear.

"We’re not talking about a new law here," Noble said. "And it’s a little strange that, 60 years after the passage of the law, we’re suddenly finding out a new interpretation of what it means."

Eric Boone is the head of the parking authority. He and his board say that the exemption has some caveats.

"A state marshal is only exempt per the law while they’re in the course of their duties," Boone told me.

And then there’s this. The law also says marshals are exempt from traffic laws insofar as the exemption is necessary to do their work. So, if there’s a parking lot across the street, is it really necessary to park in a no parking zone? Or is it just convenient?

"They will park in a traffic lane sometimes," Boone said. "If they can’t find access, and it’s getting close to the end of the day and they have to serve the papers, they’ll park wherever they can...And, the question is, is their need to meet that deadline -- does that trump regulations?"

Boone keeps it simple. He said the laws should be uniformly applied.

"It doesn’t matter who you are," he said. "There are rules and these rules are safety rules."

Back in the car with Beth Ostrowski, she was headed toward another stop. I was reminded that she’s exempt from traffic laws when she took a left turn right in front of a "no left turn" sign.

"And I really don’t do that," she said. "I really don’t do that. It was just bad timing. Distracted."

As she drove, Ostrowski pointed out the attorney general’s office -- it's another place she illegally parks to serve papers. Just across the street was a private parking lot. But it isn’t cheap for a marshal who is paid by the job. It’s a $12.00 flat rate. She makes $40.00 for the legal service.

Ostrowski said she’ll continue to park illegally, because she can. And the parking authority says it might issue her a ticket, because it can. And though the two sides say they’re working to find a happy middle ground, it’s now in the hands of a state court judge.

Jeff Cohen started in newspapers in 2001 and joined Connecticut Public in 2010, where he worked as a reporter and fill-in host. In 2017, he was named news director. Then, in 2022, he became a senior enterprise reporter.

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