Demerits Policy
The Law Library will be instituting a demerits system, as of September 1, 2008. As you may know, the Law Library does not charge fines for overdue books and as a result, we have had recurring problems with books not being returned. The demerit system will affect all student accounts and all alumni and “other” accounts, such as bar members. Faculty and staff accounts will not be subject to demerits.
Demerits will be given for failure to return materials within the loan period and will accrue at the rate indicated on the table below. Accrual rates are per item; all items totals are added together. For A/V materials, an “item” is defined as one disc or tape. Once a patron reaches the limit of 60 demerits, his or her account will be suspended until all overdue items are returned. In addition, the patron’s account will be suspended for an additional four days after the items have been returned.
| Item Type |
Loan Period |
Accrual |
Time until suspension |
| Course Reserve |
4 hours |
4/hour |
15 hours |
| Reserve |
4 hours |
1/hour |
60 hours |
| Study Aids |
4 hours |
1/hour |
60 hours |
| Keys |
4 hours |
12/hour |
5 hours |
| A/V Study Aids |
3 days |
5/day |
12 days |
| A/V Materials |
7 days |
2/day |
30 days |
| General Collection |
21 days |
1/day |
60 days |
Once an account is suspended, the patron will not be allowed to check out any materials (including course reserve, outlines, keys, etc.) until the suspension period has ended.
Once the demerit system is activated, all currently overdue items will begin accruing demerits. Please return all overdue items immediately to avoid having your account suspended.
If you cannot recollect whether you have items that are currently overdue, you can check the status of your Library account including all overdue items by logging into TOMCAT, clicking on the “Patron” button, and then logging in with your Student ID number (“Barcode”) or email account name (“Institution ID”) and last name.