If you are planning on throwing a huge “rager” this weekend, think twice. There may be more trouble than fun on tap.

Three University of Wisconsin-Madison students learned that lesson the hard way last month when Madison police fined them a combined $86,000 for a house party that got out of hand.

Travis Ludy, 21, Mitchell Klatt, 20, and Kevin Tracy, 20, all received citations for serving alcohol without a license, among other violations, after police arrived at their house to make sure everyone was acting in a safe manner.

The hosts were largely uncooperative and only presented themselves to officers once they began to write citations for every violation they found.

None of the hosts had responded to the Marquette Tribune’s repeated interview requests upon press time.

These types of parties are not unheard of at Marquette, but Lt. Paul Mascari of the Department of Public Safety said no Marquette-area party has received significant fines in at least a year.  He said a key to avoiding these fines are keeping the parties small and safe.

“We encourage people to stay inside and keep it small,” said Mascari.  “If they are visible on the street people may begin to show up uninvited.  That’s when trouble happens.”

Mark Dudenhoefer, a Milwaukee police officer stationed at the Avenues West substation, said the biggest problems they run into with house parties happen when parties begin obstructing people outside the confines of the house.

DPS makes a point to scope out any potentially dangerous situation before it occurs and warns the hosts to keep a watchful eye on the party.

If DPS knows in advance about a major party’s location, they will distribute a flier with suggestions on how to keep them under control, as well as potential fines if it gets out of hand, Mascari said.

Some common fines include disorderly conduct, $185; sale of alcohol to a minor, $171; purchase or procuring of alcohol by a minor, $374; and illegal alcohol sale with no license, $3,224.

On top of the fines students can receive from the Milwaukee Police Department, they can also face disciplinary action from the university.

“The student conduct process is completely separate and independent of MPD,” said Erin Lazzar, assistant dean of students, in an e-mail.  “The university will likely address the situation, as well as MPD.”

She said there have been past incidences of Marquette students being fined significant amounts of money.

Mascari said there have been instances where parties have gotten out of hand and students hosting  have called DPS to help break up the party.

“When they want people to leave, the hosts will give us a call,” Mascari said.  “If they can’t get them to leave when they start to get out of hand or want to go to bed, it is not uncommon for the host to call us to report their own party and ask us to help break it up.”