Chalking (tire chalking)

Tire chalking is the practice of marking a parked car’s tire with chalk so an officer can prove later that it stayed past a time limit. In Taylor v. City of Saginaw (2019), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that chalking is a search under the Fourth Amendment, and in a 2021 ruling in the same case it held that the administrative-search exception does not justify suspicionless chalking. Those rulings bind federal courts in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee and apply to government enforcement, since the Fourth Amendment limits government officers. Recording the plate, location, and time digitally captures the same facts without touching the vehicle.

Also called: Tire chalking, Chalking tires