EMB ERJ 145 ER/LR
Situational Awareness; Troubleshooting
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Maintenance
Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport; General Declared Emergency
Logbook Entry; Aircraft
During initial climbout I dialed a frequency into the number 2 RMU. I noticed as I scrolled through the frequencies the Parking Brake Light began to flicker then remained illuminated. The Captain contacted Dispatch and Maintenance to troubleshoot the issue and review our options. Maintenance advised us to return to our departure airport. We declared an emergency with ATC and notified them we needed to return. We flew a normal approach and prepared for the possibility of landing with our brakes engaged. We requested the fire trucks to be standing by upon arrival. Fortunately; the landing was normal and brakes worked normally. We taxied to the gate with no further issues.The aircraft was down for maintenance earlier in the day due to 'TO CONFIG' error message. We discussed this prior to the flight. During our troubleshooting process; we discussed the possibility of this earlier write-up playing a role in the current issue.
When the parking brake light illuminated in flight the flight crew of an EMB-145 declared an emergency and returned to their departure airport for maintenance attention.  The landing and braking were normal on arrival.