Students who have received parking violations may not have to part with their money just yet.

Anyone who has been issued a parking citation has the opportunity to appeal the ticket and offer an explanation. While the University Police Department does not have specific statistics as to how many appeals are actually granted, Adam Due, chief public safety officer for UPD, said he suspects that most appeals are denied.

“I think many students appeal it just to take their chances even if they think it won’t get approved,” Due said.

However, he said all violators do get a fair chance to appeal their tickets with the Parking Appeals Committee and those with valid reasons or excuses for parking illegally may not have to pay the ticket. Each appeal is analyzed and judged on an individual basis, making it hard to predict which reasons will get denied and which ones will get approved.

“I think its nice we give them an opportunity to explain,” said Julia Abell, a member of the committee and director of planning and institutional studies. “Sometimes people are in a hurry or they think they are parked correctly.”

The appeals committee is made up of several members of the Parking Committee and each appeal must be reviewed by three people: a student, a staff member and a faculty member. Parking appeals have nothing to do with the police to keep decisions unbiased, Art Mitchell, a UPD officer said.

Before anyone can appeal a ticket, he said, the violator must pay the ticket, $20 if it is paid within five business days and $40 any time after that, and then fill out an appeal form. Three people from the committee separately come in on their own time to review the appeals and they vote with the majority ruling.

“We really leave it up to them,” Due said. “It depends on what the individual thinks is acceptable.”

Abell and other members of the committee said they try to go to the UPD at least once a month to review the appeals and each time Abell goes she reviews between 15 and 20 appeals.

She said when she reviews an appeal, she considers factors such as time, weather, date, the offender’s history and where the person was parked.

If the rules have recently changed or it is a first offense, the appeal has a good chance of being approved. Sometimes the police are right in writing the ticket, but she said some situations have to be looked at closely.

Shirley Stewart, acting vice president for student affairs and former committee member, said that two almost definite exceptions include career recruiters who get tickets, which are exempt by career services, and families that visit campus that are excused by the admissions department.

If a violator is new to the campus or in a situation where they are unfamiliar with the rules, a ticket may be appealed. However, it all lies in the hands of the appeals board, Abell said.

Sandy Bingham-Porter, data processing analyst and committee member, said she made few exceptions when reviewing the appeals and depended on the university parking rules to guide her decisions.

“People don’t always know they are parked incorrectly,” Abell said. “They’re not intentionally breaking the law.”