Police records also show that many who break the town’s parking laws might not get tickets at all. The police department sometimes goes two weeks without writing a ticket.

Some downtown business owners have complained, and police say they are looking at ways to collect more of the parking fines while also going after more-serious lawbreakers.

“It really comes down to cost,” said Capt. Bruce Gentry, interim police chief. “We could do far more parking enforcement, but is it worth it?”

Of the 458 tickets written between July 2008 and June 19, only 171 have been paid. Gentry said the department doesn’t have data showing how much those unpaid tickets are worth. But based on the value of paid tickets, those 287 unpaid tickets would total about $3,300.

Officers generally enforce parking downtown every day, Gentry said, marking tires with chalk and returning two hours later to write tickets. But sometimes the department is short-staffed, and the officers who cover parking have to patrol the streets or investigate a crime, Gentry said. The department doesn’t have a dedicated parking-enforcement officer.

Those who don’t pay tickets within 30 days receive a warning letter at the address on their vehicle registration. Another warning letter is sent a month later, but that’s generally all the town does to collect the money.

“Technically, you can civilly sue people,” Gentry said, noting that parking violations in Smithfield are a civil matter, not a criminal one.

But hiring a lawyer to pursue the matter in court would cost more than the parking the ticket, Gentry said. “We’d probably be losing money on that process,” he said.

Chris Kinkade, owner of Orchard House Booksellers, said the town isn’t doing enough to stop people from parking all day in the spaces in front of his shop. “The people getting tickets are not having to pay the tickets, and they’re sort of bragging about it,” he said.

Some North Carolina towns take further measures to collect fines. In Wilson, police put a wheel-locking boot on cars with five or more unpaid tickets. Offenders must pay their fines before they can move their car.

“That has put a lot of teeth into what we do,” said Becky Davis, parking-enforcement officer for the Wilson Police Department. She said about 85 percent of parking tickets are paid.

In Chapel Hill, unpaid parking tickets are turned over to a collection agency, and it hurts the offender’s credit score, said Parking Superintendent Brenda Jones. But she added that Chapel Hill's collection rate is similar to Smithfield's, in part because of its student population.

Kinkade wants to use similar measures in Smithfield, noting that the town is missing out on revenue by letting unpaid tickets slide. “If you get more than four or five, something should be done,” he said.

Gentry said he plans to discuss how to improve the collection rate with Town Manager Eric Williams.

“I’m not sure which direction we’re going to go,” he said, adding that he doesn’t think any method will collect 100 percent of fines, since some cars are registered at the wrong address. “The best you’re probably going to see is 50 to 60 percent.” But some who work downtown don’t think it’s worthwhile to enforce the two-hour parking limits.

“I think there’s better uses of [police] time than this,” said attorney Joy Jones, who regularly uses street parking near the courthouse.