disorderlyvision
03-05-2010, 02:23 PM
http://www.kspr.com/news/local/85995552.html
UPDATED 2:45 P.M.: The city of Springfield just announced it is suspending red light cameras. Any pending cases will be dismissed. Check back here for details, and we'll have the latest on KSPR News at 4.
The City of Springfield must change the way it handles traffic tickets that are issued to drivers caught by red-light cameras, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
In a unanimous ruling, the state's high court ruled that Springfield city code is wrong when it requires red-light tickets to be heard in what's called an "administrative proceeding."
From the court's ruling:
"Violations of municipal ordinances such as this one cannot be determined administratively but must be heard in a division of the circuit court ... The administrative proceeding is void, and (the) $100 penalty is vacated."
The case stems from a lawsuit filed by Adolph Belt, a former Missouri State Highway Patrol employee who got a ticket from a red-light camera in July 2008. Belt and his attorney said he had the right to trial in circuit court.
UPDATED 2:45 P.M.: The city of Springfield just announced it is suspending red light cameras. Any pending cases will be dismissed. Check back here for details, and we'll have the latest on KSPR News at 4.
The City of Springfield must change the way it handles traffic tickets that are issued to drivers caught by red-light cameras, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
In a unanimous ruling, the state's high court ruled that Springfield city code is wrong when it requires red-light tickets to be heard in what's called an "administrative proceeding."
From the court's ruling:
"Violations of municipal ordinances such as this one cannot be determined administratively but must be heard in a division of the circuit court ... The administrative proceeding is void, and (the) $100 penalty is vacated."
The case stems from a lawsuit filed by Adolph Belt, a former Missouri State Highway Patrol employee who got a ticket from a red-light camera in July 2008. Belt and his attorney said he had the right to trial in circuit court.