Will cities resume red-light cameras now that Ohio Supreme Court struck down restrictions?

CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Ohio Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that restrictions on traffic cameras, such as requiring a police officer to sit with the camera, are unconstitutional - giving cities a green light to resume mailing tickets to drivers caught speeding or running red lights.

The justices voted 5-2 in favor of cities' home rule, two years after Dayton challenged three provisions to the law:

  • Requiring a law enforcement officer be present with the traffic camera
  • Prohibiting a fine to a driver caught speeding by a traffic camera unless the driver was going more than 6 mph in a school zone or 10 mph in other areas
  • Telling a municipality to perform a safety study and conduct a public information campaign before the camera was installed and used.

The provisions "do not constitute a general law and are unconstitutional, and we strike the statute," the majority opinion says.

Akron may reinstate cameras in school zones, said city spokeswoman Ellen Lander-Nischt. During the 2016-2017 school year, only some of those speed cameras were used, and a police officer sat near the camera.

The city is "pleased" with the ruling, Lander-Nischt said.

So is Newburgh Heights Mayor Trevor Elkins, where the city is using cameras on side streets and a stretch of I-77.

"We have believed from Day 1 that there should be a set of rules that everybody follows, and we've also believed from Day 1 that the provisions overturned by the Supreme Court today were unconstitutional. This is a victory for home rule and for safety," Elkins said in an interview Wednesday. "It's a good thing that our officers can be assigned to other duties; that's the point of their duty to begin with."

The Ohio Municipal League, a nonprofit organization that represents hundreds of Ohio cities in front of the Ohio General Assembly, was also satisfied with the ruling.

"This is not the first time the Supreme Court and other Ohio courts have ruled that these preemptions from the Ohio legislature violate the local control protections the Ohio constitution grants cities and villages," league executive director Kent Scarrett said in a statement. "Our legislators should be working with our municipal leaders and not dictating to our citizens how their communities should be run."

But two Ohio legislators question whether the Supreme Court ruling affects townships and villages, or just cities whose charters explicitly give them home-rule powers.

Rep. Bill Seitz of Cincinnati, a Republican who wrote the original law, said that there's no constitutional provision that extends those rights to any non-home-rule cities.

That would mean villages, including Newburgh Heights and Linndale (notorious for its traffic tickets), would still have to meet state requirements, while cities like East Cleveland would not.

In Cleveland, voters outlawed its robust traffic camera enforcement network in 2014.

State Rep. Tom Patton, a Strongsville Republican who has long opposed red light and speed traffic cameras, and was "surprised and a bit disappointed" by Wednesday's ruling.

"I'm a strong proponent of safe driving, and I believe police officers are the best deterrent to bad driving," Patton said. "Getting a ticket 30 days later [that was issued following a traffic camera violation] doesn't improve driving that same day."

Patton has introduced legislation this session that applies to small cities that use traffic cameras "as their cash register, with no regard to safety," he said.

"There are other legislators who feel even more strongly than I do about the inappropriateness of the speed cameras," Patton said. "I wouldn't be surprised if new legislation is introduced [when session resumes]."

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