THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, JULY 13, 2011
PAGE 9
9.
APPEALS
A $5,000 fine and other tales from the lot
BY MATT GALLOWAY
mgalloway@kansan.com
One University staff member has totaled a record $4,830 in parking tickets since January 2007.
Perhaps even more surprising than the record 255 tickets the employee has received is the number of appeals they have filed: zero.
Donna Hultine, director of Parking and Transit, did not reveal the employee's name but said the situation was one of the strangest in her 30 years with Parking and Transit.
"It's boggling to me as to why they would spend almost $5,000," Hultine said. "Plus, the permit that they buy is $230 a year. It doesn't make any sense to me."
The employee is not tenured enough to buy a permit closer to their building's entrance, Hultine said.
A ticket can be appealed within 10 business days. From there, the Court of Parking Appeals, also referred to as "Traffic Court," determines the validity of the claim.
In the last two completed fiscal years, fined drivers filed a total of 2,165 appeals. Of those submissions, 737 were granted, or slightly
more than 34 percent. The department collected $1,539,448 in ticket revenue for the two-year period, which it used partially to repair campus roads and parking lots.
a ticket before it reaches the appeals process, Hultine said.
"When it's something that we can't see clearly, that's what the court is there for," Hultine said.
Ali Serum, a sophomore from Olathe, successfully had one of her tickets overturned before it reached the appeals process. Last April, a meter ate all her change outside the Robinson Center. When she returned, she discovered a ticket on her windshield.
She wrote Parking and Transit an e-mail that night and said the ticket was unfair. A few days later, the department returned the e-mail telling her the ticket had been voided, Serum said.
Serum received four other tickets last year but the April fine was the only one she appealed.
In some situations, Parking and Transit will void
"I do feel it is a reasonable process," Serum said. "There are other times when it feels like you have two minutes left and they're waiting to write you a ticket. They seem kind of like vultures wanting money, but they can be understandable because they did help me with my situation."
"When it's something we can't see clearly, that's what the court is there for."
The Court of Parking Appeals is led by a student chief justice who is
DONNA HULTINE Director of Parking and Transit
elected by fellow student judges at the end of every spring semester, according to the University Senate Rules and Regulations.
"It's a court of equity, not really a court of law"
Hultine said. "The court looks at extenuating circumstances."
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If a situation is out of a ticketed driver's control, such as a vehicle breakdown or a sudden illness, the appeal is likely to be granted, Hultine said. However, Hultine said not all of the appeals filed are exactly reasonable.
"There was a student who wrote that she had a yellow permit and she thought that meant she could park on a yellow curb." Hultine said. "[Other examples] escape me right now. They kind of all run together."
Chris Bronson/KANSAN
In some situations, tickets will be voided before reaching the appeals process.
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