While more and more parks are refusing cash for entrance fees, a lawsuit against that policy is continuing in Washington, D.C./NPS file

The ongoing battle over whether the National Park Service should accept U.S. currency for entrance fees and other payments in parks is dragging on in a Washington, D.C., courthouse, with no end in sight.

At the moment, U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly has given the federal government until Friday to craft its response to the plaintiff's argument that the case should go forward.

The case, now more than a year old, was launched in March 2024 when a small handful of plaintiffs sued the Park Service of its cashless policy, saying the policy is unreasonable and an abuse of discretion and that federal law states that legal tender is suitable "for all public charges."

That lawsuit was dismissed in February when Kelly ruled that most of the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring the lawsuit, mainly because they were never actually denied entry to a national park, and because they couldn't make a plausible argument that a park requiring payment via a credit card in the future would cause them irrevocable harm.

The amended complaint filed this past March expands on the constitutional and statutory issues that the Park Service allegedly violates with the cashless policy. It also maintains that one of the original plaintiffs, Toby Stover, who remains the only plaintiff, is harmed every time she tries to visit the Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt, a national historic site, at Hyde Park, New York, because it won't accept cash for the $15 entrance fee, a point noted on the park's website.

The updated filing points out that the general counsel for the Internal Revenue Service advised the agency that it must "accept cash for payment citing the very law defendants continue to violate. Plaintiff simply asks this court to uphold it and re-establish plaintiff's right to tender government currency at Hyde Park or any other national park."

It also notes that under the U.S. Constitution the Congress, not the Park Service, has the authority to define legal tender. Under that authority, Congress created the Legal Tender Statute that "allows the use of Federal Reserve Notes as legal tender for all private charges and public fees, including the entrance fee at NPS locations (including Hyde Park) that don’t accept cash."

Earlier this month the government asked the judge to dismiss the lawsuit, questioning whether Stover lacks access to a credit card and because the statute her lawyer relied on to challenge the cashless policy "does not require the Park Service to accept cash for the services it provides."

In response, her attorney argued that "no U.S. Government Agency has ever had the gall to deny its own money."

"Defendants’ motion is missing one important thing: legal justification to redefine legal tender by requiring third-party, surrogate payment," added Ray L. Flores II.

Stay tuned.