how to handle unassigned tickets on hold

[Eric O]

I have a dozen tickets in a parking lot status.   Tickets will be on hold for months until we complete higher priority requests.  I have the category, status set, but if we unassign from anyone, it appears in my unassigned ticket view.   Can I have a temp user or way to assign a case to a non-person for holding, without using a paid Agent license?

[Admin Jovanio]

Yes, it is possible! In Jira Service Management, you can have free users with limited roles. Simply:

Steps:
Create a new user, for example:

Name: retention.ticket@yourdomain.com

Display name: On Retention

Don't grant this user an agent license (no access to the project as an agent).

Give this user permission to be assigned (through project permissions):

In Project Settings > Permissions

Make sure that Assign Issues and Be Assigned include a group or role where they are (e.g. “Users”).

Now you can assign tickets to this user, even if they don't have an agent license.

✅ Result: they appear as “assignee”, but they don't consume license or interfere with the team's work.

[Eric O]

I tried the steps.  We have a Role Service Desk Team that has the assignable user permission, but adding my new account into this role did not allow me to assign a ticket.    Unless there is something else I missed.  The new Retention user is on the dropdown for assignment of tickets, but picking the user errors with the following.