The City of Brampton is trying to keep parking fines out of courtrooms by allowing members of the public to dispute the tickets with city staff instead.

Residents no longer have to wait for an assigned court date to dispute a ticket, according to a press release issued Tuesday.

Anyone who receives a parking ticket in Brampton can now schedule a meeting with staff from the city’s Administrative Monetary Penalty System -- within 12 to 15 weeks from the date of their ticket -- to dispute the fine.

According to the release, ‘Screening and Hearing Review Officers’ from the AMPS will have the power to uphold, reduce or cancel the parking ticket.

“By including a single system for all parking fines, we are providing an enhance service for customers and freeing up valuable court time for other, more serious matters,” Chair of Corporate Services Committee and Brampton Regional Coun. Martin Medeiros said in the press release.

“Proactive and effective services reflect good governance, which is a key strategic priority for the city.”

Though the AMPS has been managing parking fines of over $100 since 2014, the addition of handling parking disputes is the city’s effort to avoid a backlog of unresolved tickets and fines.

The city said that residents often waited up to a year before a court date was assigned to them for a parking ticket.

The AMPS method has already been implemented in other municipalities including Mississauga, Oshawa and Vancouver.

Toronto is considering going forward with the same approach to parking tickets. A survey conducted back in October polled residents about how they would like an AMPS method in parking ticket disputes and the results are expected to go before a committee in July.