By Christina Lieffring
If anyone has ever wondered where money from parking tickets go, the answer depends on the violation.
Handicap parking violations on campus are handled by the Overland Park Municipal Court. A violation includes parking in a handicap parking space without a permit or with a permit that was issued to the car but not to the driver.
“Usually an officer will see someone park in a handicap spot and then run into a building which would give them reasonably that person may not be handicapped,” said Officer Ed Vesey of the campus police.
“The person is contacted and asked to provide either registration receipt, a temporary handicap placard or an identification card for the permanent handicap license plate.”
If the driver is unable to prove they are registered for the placard, campus police file a ticket, which is then handled by the O.P. Municipal Court, which charges over $100 for a violation.
“Word of advice: don’t borrow someone else’s handicapped placard,” said Vesey.
Tickets issued by the campus police and paid to the college are only $10 for the first violation or $20 for any subsequent violations.
Handicap parking violations were a growing problem on campus, so in 2012 the police chief contacted the Overland Park Municipal Court and they agreed to process them.
“The fine was higher and that would serve as an incentive to obey the handicap parking restrictions,” said Vesey.
The money from those fines go to the city of Overland Park.
According Vesey, the most common violation other than handicap parking is parking overtime in the 30 or 60 minute spaces and parking in staff/faculty lots without a permit.
These violations are handled by campus police and payments are made to the college. Students do have the option of appealing a parking ticket. However, if they do not submit their appeal nor pay the fine, a hold is placed on their record and they are unable to register or graduate.
Tickets issued by the campus police are paid to the Business Office, and according to Barbara Larson, executive vice president of financial and administrative services, that money goes into the student activity fund, which covers a wide swath of activities and organizations on campus.
“It supports student scholarships and all of the activities that take place: clubs, The Campus Ledger, graduation activities,” said Larson. “But student activity fund this is year is budgeted at $2.9 million and about half of that is for scholarships for students, grants, veterans grants, athletic scholarships, all of that.”
In 2013, the college recorded $4,120 is parking fine revenue, less than a percent of the $2.9 million budgeted for student activities. But anyone who has received a scholarship will tell you, every dollar counts.
Parking advice from campus police
Lots of students park illegally, even though the college has enough parking to accommodate the student body.
The problem is, students try to park in the wrong places.
Most students enter on College Blvd and try to find parking in the north lots by the Carlsen Center, Student Center and Fitness Center.
“You’ll see cars come in then they’ll start circling and they’ll just keep on going,” said Vesey. “It’s like a wagon train to find a spot.”
Because they’re late, the students panic and park illegally. Vesey advises students to instead take the south entrance on Quivera Rd and park in one of the large lots by the Library, ATB or SCI buildings.
“It is a lot quicker because you’re going to find a spot quicker and you can just walk to the center of campus,” said Vesey. “From that entrance, parking there, to [center of campus] is eight minutes.”
Contact Christina Lieffring, news editor, clieffri@jccc.edu