State lawmakers are again trying to create new rules for how communities may use traffic enforcement cameras, especially smaller ones that make a large percentage of their revenue from citations. Ohio Public Radio's Karen Kasler explains.
Columbus Democratic Representative Hearcel Craig is going after communities without mayors’ courts that running traffic camera programs. He says some violations come with fines in the hundreds to thousands of dollars which he says is “abusive and excessive”.
“What we’re looking to do is close those loopholes by capping those fees. At this point enough is enough.”
A trio of bills from Republican Rep. Tom Patton of Strongsville would ban traffic cameras use in communities that get more than 30% of their revenue from the cameras, or have fewer than 200 residents or no fire or EMS services. But the commission that looks over legislation is warning that all these bills could be a problem under the state’s home rule provision, which allows communities to set certain rules.
