Although the number of people appealing parking tickets on Evanston’s Web site is not high, city officials say the online service has become an efficient option for contesting fines.

About two people per day appeal parking citations on the site, said Shanee Jackson, an employee of the city’s Division of Administrative Hearings, which oversees parking ticket appeals.

The online form is part of the city’s Web site (www.cityofevanston.org), which was launched Jan. 2. It is the first municipal Web site in Illinois to offer an online parking appeals process.

Appeals generally are made when an officer incorrectly cites a vehicle or when a damaged sign fails to alert drivers of parking rules in a particular area.

Jackson said the online appeals process is simple and saves drivers the cost of mailing the appeal.

“The online system is ideal for people who prefer to use their computers, people who are confined to their homes or anyone looking to speed up the parking citation appeals process,” Jackson said.

Filling out the online form only takes a few minutes. The form requests some general personal and ticket information, followed by a brief statement of facts about the incident.

In the past, parking tickets could be contested only in person or by mail. If, when filling out the online form, the individual requests a trial, a court date will be set within two or three weeks. Using a written form can take as many as 40 days.

“I wanted to contest a parking ticket last year, but the process of getting a trial or filling out an appeal took too much time,” said Kristen Dietrich, a Weinberg sophomore. “I ended up just paying for the ticket. If an online form was available, I would have taken advantage of it,”

Online contesting also speeds up the appeals process for people who don’t want to appear in court. Drivers are notified of a judge’s decision on the case within three weeks. The site also allows students to contest tickets from outside the Evanston area.

But if photographs or other visuals need to be included as part of the appeal, the parking citation must be appealed through a written form.

As word about the new site continues to spread, city officials are expecting more people to take advantage of the online appeals process.

The city advertised the online site in January in local newspapers. Articles about the Web site appeared first in The Daily and then in the Chicago Tribune.

“The day after the article ran in The Daily, we received about ten student appeals,” said Jackson.

Questions about the appeals process can be directed to Anne McCarthy, the Web site’s developer, at [email protected].