Parking and Transportation Services business manager Lorraine Caccavale was on hand Wednesday night at the meeting of the Student Government supreme court to explain changes in the appeals process for parking tickets.

The meeting was open to the public; however, no one showed up. Caccavale answered questions the SG justices had about their dealings with the appeals process.

Previously, when a student would submit his or her appeal to Parking and Transportation Services and it was denied, “We had one generic letter we would send out saying we’ve denied your appeal.” Caccavale said. “Now, the letters are tailormade according to the offense.”

The process is still the same in that “the first appeal goes to the appeals mediator in Parking and the second appeal goes to SG supreme court,” Caccavale said.

Parking offenses are connected to the license plate number, which goes into the Parking and Transportation Services database after the first offense.

Students may receive warnings throughout the year per license plate number, however, they cannot exceed four warnings for four reasons. Students may be issued warnings rather than tickets depending on the category his or her offense falls into. The four reasons are not having a current permit; being parked out of assigned lot, parked over the line; or facing traffic.

Chief Justice Diana Dias said the court’s role in parking appeals is to be the next level for a student to come to if they are not satisfied with the way Parking and Transportation Services handled their appeal.

“For example, if I got a ticket,” Dias said, “I would appeal it to Parking Services online or fill out the form. If I’m not satisfied with the way Parking Services handled it, I can present either an oral or written appeal to SG.”

The court would then make their ruling based on a majority vote.

After the SG supreme court has ruled on a final appeal “Parking Services cannot override the decision the court has made,” Caccavale said.

Parking Services has seen no need to intervene in the rulings of the SG supreme court on parking appeals.

“All decisions rendered were fair and we thought you did a great job,” Caccavale said to the court.

Caccavale said this year was the first year that the supreme court made a continual effort to communicate with Parking.

For more information on the appeals process for parking tickets, call (813) 974-3990, or visit www.usf.edu/parking_services .