Some cops are crazy. I had one cop tell me he pulled me over because he had a quota to fill. In South Beach I got a parking ticket 20 mins before my time was up. I had to flag down a cop and show him the ticket which he ripped up but left in the system. It was a mess but after writing a bunch of emails, it was sorted out.

in my country you have 15 minutes "free" in case you just sent to pay, they give you the benefit of the doubt :). in other words, first time the controles come they write in computer thingys they spoted you. when they pass by next time they write you a computerized ticket on which writes not only the time you got the ticket, but the time when they spotted you in the first place. quite fair if you ask me, every place should have the same policy :) sorry about the ticket OP, hope you can make an official complaint!

#56, where I live you have 10 minutes, but you have to put a note with your exact arrival time under the windshield for it to count. If you don't, they can ticket you immediately.

I parked at a meter, and within a few minutes after time expires, I got a ticket under the windshield. it was literally like 2 minutes after it expired. I don't think it's illegal.

That's a little different- you had paid for your parking and your time had run out. It sucks, but it is your responsibility to keep the meter running long enough, or come back out and refill it before it runs out, and you didn't do that. In OP's case they were in the process of paying, and the cop should have waited long enough for OP to come back. What that cop did would be like if you had just pulled up to the meter and the cop ran over and gave you a ticket right as you were putting your change in the meter.

Yes but once you factor the time it'll take to go to court & possibly miss work, you have to figure if it's really worth fighting. The fines are usually low enough so Joe Public won't fight it & just pay. Sucks either way...

You get points in your drivers license. Enough points and your license goes bye bye. It'll also make your insurance go up if you lose your license. This isn't even considering reinstatement fees are anywhere from 80-5000 dollars.

They can't take points off your license if they do not ticket you directly. Just like with photo radar. Because they can not prove who was driving, in this case parking, the car, they can not take points off your license. I don't think they take points off for parking violations at all though. There are certain accidents you can get into and have it not affect your points too.

Points are only added if a person is convicted of or pleads guilty to a moving violation. Non-moving motor vehicle violations do not carry any points.

Virginia is a tough, income-from-tickets State.