BLOOMINGTON - Terry Marx is a mild-mannered gentleman, but some things - like abuse of handicapped parking spaces - set him off.

His wife, Debbie Marx, has spina bifida, so Marx's concern is personal. To combat the problem, he has joined a group of volunteers who issue tickets to people who wrongly park in spaces designated for people with disabilities.

"It extends the arm of the local police department," said Bill Bogdan, disability liaison for the Illinois Secretary of State's Office. State law was amended in 1998 to allow using civilians for that purpose.

The availability isn't lost on Bloomington Police officials, who are recruiting more civilian volunteers.

"The police can't be everywhere," said spokesman Dave White. More citizen volunteers mean "more eyes out there."

The deadline to submit an application is Friday (Jan. 26). White said more than a dozen people have applied; a training seminar is scheduled for next month.

Marx can't wait. He's eager for help, because while Bloomington once had almost two dozen volunteers, now there's only Marx and two other people.

The plan to beef up enforcement has the support of LIFE Center for Independent Living in Bloomington.

"Absolutely, this would be good," said program director Jill Doran, explaining extra enforcement will make the public more aware of disabled parking violations.

Normal doesn't use civilians to enforce handicapped parking laws, said Rick Bleichner, Normal's assistant police chief. Parking enforcement officers, who are civilians, look for any type of parking violation and that includes handicapped violations.

"We respond to complaints and then there are officers on patrol," said Bleichner, who believes Normal is adequately addressing the violations.

It isn't cheap to illegally park in a handicapped space. The spaces, usually nearest the front door of a business, are designated by a blue sign and the outline of a wheelchair. They can be used legally by those issued a handicapped license plate or placard.

The fine is a minimum of $250, increased from $100 earlier last year, and Bogdan said that's called more attention to the problem.

Last year, Illinois had issued more than 435,000 handicapped placards and 81,570 license plates, Bogdan said.