Students received more than 12,000 parking citations on campus last year over the course of the fall, spring and summer semesters.

Parking without a permit and parking without a valid permit for the specific lot are two of the most common ways students are ticketed on campus, said University Police Department’s Lt. John Hatfill.

Students received 6,148 tickets last fall, 4,898 in spring and 1,048 in the summer; the average cost of a ticket is $40.

Hatfill said the most common ticketed lot is the north Coleman staff parking lot.

“There are times when we have a large number of guests coming to campus that will not know where to park; however, we still have the lot space for them to utilize,” Hatfill said.

The stadium lot, Ninth Street lot and W-lot are the most spacious places for parking, Hatfill said.

He said he has given out at least 425 tickets this semester, with his average being 25 tickets every two hours.

Trevor Bradley, a ticket writer who is planning on going into law enforcement, said this past week he has given out 105 tickets and a boot.

“Kids don’t even care where they park; it’s kind of funny,” Bradley said.

Cars can be booted under three conditions: if the student has five unpaid citations before they transfer to their student account, if the student is caught with a stolen or lost permit in the vehicle and if the student is caught with an altered day pass. Students will be able to remove the boot if they pay their citations.

Bradley said he had an incident earlier in the week where he was writing a citation for a parking meter violation and as he was placing the ticket on the car as a couple walked out.

He said the male student asked him if he was writing him a ticket, and when Bradley responded the female student got upset. Bradley said the woman took the ticket off of the car and threw it on the ground.

Bradley said a citation for parking meters is about $7.50, but if ignored for five days the bill increases to $15.

There are about 14 ways students can be fined and ticketed on campus for parking, though the first ticket a student receives at Eastern is waived.

Anyone who displays/possesses an altered or stolen parking permit/day pass is subjected criminal charges and/or $200 fine with loss of campus parking for an entire year. Falsification of vehicle registration is $100 and a ban from campus parking for 16 weeks. Loaning a permit or displaying another student’s permit will result in the permit revoked without a reimbursement for a semester and a $100 fine.

Students may also appeal a parking citation; however, it must be filed with the Parking Services Office within 10 days. Handicapped, boot and towing citations may not be appealed.

Dan Nadler, the vice president for student affairs, said all parking fines are distributed to different parts of the university.

Roberto Hodge can be reached at 581-2812 or rlhodge@eiu.edu