Hearing and Appeals Procedure

     Faculty/staff and students are preferably asked to submit all appeals online. (www.usm.edu/parking/online_appeal.html)

     Any individual receiving a parking or traffic citation may request a hearing regarding the citation. Students shall have a hearing before a student judicial board. Faculty and staff members shall have a hearing before a staff board. The following reasons are NOT acceptable grounds for dismissing a parking or traffic citation:

a. Ignorance of regulations
b. Inability to find a legal parking space
c. No space available
d. Inclement weather
e. Late for class
f. Improperly displayed decal
g. Failure to purchase a decal
h. Permit used by another person
i. Not displaying a decal

     Requests for a parking violation hearing must be made within ten (10) working days of issuance of the citation.

     Student hearings will be held weekly on Tuesdays during fall and spring semesters. During the summer semester, student hearings will be held once a month on the third Wednesday. Faculty and staff hearings will be held on the third Tuesday of each month that school is in session full-time. The time and place of the hearing is available through the Department of Parking Management online. The board(s) may make a decision based upon the written request with or without the presence of the alleged violator. The ruling of the board(s) may be appealed to the Parking Management Committee in writing within 10 working days from the decision of the board(s). The decision from the Parking Management Committee is final.

    A person requesting a hearing may be present at his or her parking violation hearing and may present information as permitted by the board(s) regarding the citation:

a. Parking violations "Request for Hearing" cases where the alleged violator wishes to be present are decided by the board(s) at the hearing.
b. A diagram or other pertinent information describing details concerning the citation may be submitted to the Department of Parking Management Office.
c. Tickets are considered pending during the parking violation hearing process.
d. The board(s) will hear the matter and render a decision. The board(s) may
(1) find that a parking violation occurred and impose the appropriate penalty; or,
(2) find that no parking violation occurred and dismiss the citation; or,
(3) suspend half or all of the fine imposed as a result of a finding of fact in the hearing.

     The decision of the board(s) is transmitted to the alleged violator at the address supplied online.