Have you ever received a parking citation and not wanted to pay the fine? Here, you can learn how to appeal your ticket and have the fine reduced or even dismissed.

From options such as written submissions, speech presentations and online courses, here is how the process can look like for you.

First Appeal

A warning citation is no-fine and therefore does not need to be appealed.

If you received a parking citation and think your fine should be canceled, you may file an appeal with Parking & Transportation Services (PATS). 

Appeals should be filed online within 14 days of the citation. You will receive an email confirmation that the appeal was received by PATS.

Mary Collini, PATS’ appeal mediator, and the PATS staff will review your appeal and make the first decision, which will be sent by email and USPS mail. 

If the email says PATS accepted your appeal, you are all set up.

 In the event of a denial, you are allowed to request a final appeal. 

Final Appeal

In case you are a USF student, there are two options for your final appeal: written submission or in-person presentation.

If you are not a USF student, the written submission will be the only option for your final appeal.

For the written submission, you will write a short paragraph explaining why you think you shouldn’t have to pay your parking citation, and PATS will make the final decision. 

The in-person presentation option is a five-minute speech to SG’s Supreme Court members.

Gabrielle Fuchslocher, SG Chief Justice, said the in-person presentation is not an option for non-USF students because the Supreme Court only deals with appeals of the student body since it is made up of students.

Justices are composed of students from all three USF campuses, so some might join the presentation online. 

The Supreme Court members in attendance will be:

• Chief Justice- Gabrielle Fuchslocher
• Ranking Justice- Vincent Milianta
• Senior Justice- Ana Medeiros
• Associate Justices- Karen Medina, Nicole Andersen, Jackson Sine, Ninad Deshpande and Olivia Borek

One Associate Justice position is vacant, but SG is in the process of hiring a sixth one. Fuchslocher said a room of five is enough to vote on. 

Fuchslocher said she always gives a rundown before the presentation to make sure that students completely understand the process.

The presentation starts whenever you start talking, and it is fine if you don’t use the five minutes because the Supreme Court can yield the rest of the time, Fuchslocher said.

After the presentation is over, there is a Q&A session so that justices can better understand the situation if they feel something isn’t clear enough.

 After the Q&A session, the Supreme Court will ask you to go and will deliberate privately. Fuchslocher said the final decision with vote counts is then sent to PATS with no explanation needed. 

“We like to keep that between us because our job is to deliberate, but we’re more than happy to provide clarification on the decision if somebody needs it,” Fuchslocher said.

PATS will then email you the final decision.

 Possible Outcomes

SG may come to three different decisions:

• Accept your appeal – SG will dismiss the entire ticket, and you won’t have to pay;
• Uphold the appeal, – SG will validate PATS’ original citation, and you will have to pay the fine
• Reduce citation cost – SG will reduce the fine to a more moderate price that you can afford.

Fuchslocher said the outcome is situational and based on the circumstances at the time the citation was issued. When forming the final decision, the Supreme Court tries to consider the factors surrounding that student’s actions, she said.

“We want to be fair to the system PATS has created, but we also want to help students,” Fuchslocher said. “Sometimes there are little errors that students understandably make, so we try to balance between those.”

  Related: OPINION: USF, don’t value pocket change more than your employees.

Helpful Resources

You may contact SG’s Student Legal Advocates before deciding which process to choose from.

Student Legal Advocates are available for all students on each USF campus. Part of their job is to represent and assist students in the parking citation appeal process.

Fuchslocher said because she is the Chief Justice and votes on the final decision, she can answer questions about the general process but can’t give students insight on specific cases.

 “If you are maybe afraid to write your appeal or you don’t know what to include in your presentation, advocates are always ready to help you with the specifics of your case,” Fuchslocher said.

Alternative Measures

What if you feel your appeal will not be accepted but still don’t want to pay for your fine?

Active USF students can participate in an online Canvas class offered by PATS.

The class was designed in 2018 as an alternative to reduce or eliminate a parking citation. It was created to educate the campus community and prevent future citations, according to the Parking & Transportation Services website.

If students complete the class and score 90% or higher on the final quiz, the citation will be downgraded to a warning, which is no-fine.

The five eligible citations for the class are:

• No Current Permit Display
• Out of assigned area
• Facing Traffic
• Back-in Violation
• Parking Over the Line

Students can only take this class once. After that, they will need to either pay or appeal per any of the other procedures mentioned in the guide.

Fuchslocher said the idea behind the course is that once students have passed, they should understand the campus parking rules.