Earlier this month, a Redditor warned fellow Denverites that Denver International Airport was cracking down on expired license plates.
“Just landed at the airport and they must have made the rounds today,” Smobasaurus wrote. “Lots of vehicles in west economy have tickets on their windshields for expired registrations. This is the first time in roughly 15 years of frequent work trips that I've seen this level of crackdown so I thought I'd let people know!”
Most Redditors were elated about the news.
“About time,” wrote one.
“Good,” wrote another. “I'm glad they can enforce expired tags more efficiently in these lots.”
We requested data from the city to see if the Redditor’s perception matched reality — and it turns out the airport really did have an enforcement surge last month.
In March, the airport’s parking crew ticketed 1,691 vehicles for expired license plates, according to the airport. That’s far higher than most of the previous months, and it’s somewhat higher than the recent peak in March 2024, when authorities issued almost 1,600 tickets for expired plates.
Those figures don’t include tickets given by Denver police.
Each of those tickets comes with a $95 fine, and people who fail to register for an extended period face higher costs.
What explains the jump?
Police officers and the airport’s Commercial Parking team can write tickets for expired tags at the airport, according to DPD.
Denver police and airport officials denied there was any particular effort or initiative to write tickets at the airport last month.
“March is one of the airport’s busiest months so there are a lot more cars in our lots that month,” DIA spokesperson Courtney Law told Denverite. Indeed, last March saw a similar spike in tickets.
However, last month’s ticketing far surpassed the number of tickets given in the recent summer months, which are even busier.
DPD similarly said it wasn’t pursuing any particular ticketing campaign at the airport.
“Denver Police will cite someone for expired tags if it is associated with another violation, such as speeding,” the spokesperson said. “There has not been an initiative or prioritization of citing for expired plates at DEN from DPD.”
DPD has launched several expired plate campaigns over the past year — but not specifically at DIA.
In July and November 2024, the department focused on ticketing for expired temporary license plates and expired vehicle registrations for the entire month — a response to frequent complaints from residents.
Besides paying the $95 fine, drivers also have to pay for their renewal or risk being ticketed instead.
Drivers do have a 30 grace period after a permanent license plate expires before they can be ticketed. But those with temporary plates have no grace period.
For more information about updating your registration, go to the Denver DMV website.
