If you need to run into the Jefferson County Court House for tags, license, or pretty much anything else you better think ahead.

It's not just the four hour wait you'll need to prepare for, it's the fight for parking!

Until further notice, it'll be a mad dash for parking around the courthouses in Birmingham and Bessemer.

And don't be fooled if you find a space, you'll still be standing in line like Janice Fincher. "You don't think that the line is that long, because we thought, well we found a parking space, so maybe the line won't be this long."

For every person in line to renew a car tag, there's a car parked outside... and parking spaces are filling up fast which is a problem for people like Ivory Reid who works half a block away from the Bessemer courthouse.

"I got a parking ticket because I couldn't park in the designated parking spaces that were assigned because they were all filled up by someone else, you know people trying to get in here... thinking that, you know, it's going to be hard to get their tags and things like that."

And that story shows just how important it is that you have a plan before parking.

In Bessemer you have just one parking deck which fills up fast and then non-metered spaces around the courthouse. But those spaces are only free for two-hours. Stay parked too long and you'll get a ticket and a court date.

At the Birmingham Courthouse, your best value is the parking deck on Richard Arrington Blvd. It's free to park there for now, but spaces are limited.

Or you can shell out $4 an hour after the first 90 minutes at the open lot next the parking deck. If you have to pull a ticket there, you better hope not be in line long.

Then there's the parking meters. But parking here is risky because the two hour limits are being strictly enforced. That means you could come away with a ticket even if you keep the meter fed.

And costs change depending where you park. Near the courthouse a quarter buys you one hour. But park around city hall that same quarter buys just 30 minutes.

If you get caught refeeding a meter, or not feeding one at all, the cost of a ticket is $30.