Editor's note: This story has been updated with a response from Missouri State University.

The state's attorney general announced Thursday that his office is launching an investigation into Missouri State University for allegedly enforcing a parking ticket quota and other violations.

In a press release, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said his office learned through whistleblowers that officials with MSU's Office of University Safety allegedly encouraged officers to write an "increasing amount of parking tickets, satisfying quotas of parking tickets, in order to increase funding for the department" and MSU.

“Students attending Missouri State University already have enough financial burden between tuition, books, boarding, and more — overzealously ticketing on-campus only subjects students to more financial struggles,” Schmitt said via the press release. “Missourians — especially students — shouldn’t be used solely as ATMs to drive revenue for public institutions."

The allegations violate Senate Bill 5, which protects against taxation by citation, Schmitt stated.

"The safety of students at the University must be the number one priority for the Office of University Safety, not the number of tickets that are written," Schmitt stated. "We look forward to working with Missouri State University and the Office of University Safety to solve the issue quickly and fairly.”

Whistleblowers contacted the attorney general's office with credible information outlining their concerns, according to the press release.

"The whistleblowers were concerned that they were violating the law as they complied with the direction of their supervisors to increase the number of parking tickets, satisfying quotas of parking tickets, and increasing the number of boots placed upon cars, in an effort to further increase revenue for the University and to hire additional officers," the press release stated.

The Office of University Safety also allegedly increased the number of hours dedicated to ticketing enforcement and directed officers to spend time "solely on parking enforcement," according to Schmitt's office.

MSU also appears to have established ticket quotas and monitors the number of tickets its offices issue on a daily basis, the press release stated.

"Reports are that safety officers were told to 'step up' their ticket counts," the press release stated. "One supervisor appears to have told officers to 'show people what we are made of.'"

The Attorney General’s Office will review information provided by whistleblowers as well as documents received from MSU to determine further action.

MSU released a statement that it is cooperating fully with the attorney general's office.

“As a university, we take great pride in providing a safe and fair environment for our students and visitors,” stated President Clif Smart. “If the investigation finds that any of our practices violated the law, we will take all necessary actions to promptly correct the situation.”

MSU has not been provided with specific allegations or a targeted completion date for the investigation, according to the statement. MSU will respond to inquiries when the attorney general’s office completes its investigation.