Court: DOT can order speed cameras removed from highways

The Iowa Department of Transportation has the authority to order cities to remove automated traffic enforcement cameras from highways and interstates, a Polk County judge has ruled.

The ruling is in response to a request for judicial review filed by Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Muscatine in 2015 after the transportation department ordered some speed cameras turned off because they did not make interstate highways or nearby intersections safer. 

Des Moines will appeal the decision, a city official told the Des Moines Register.

Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Muscatine officials had argued that the DOT was infringing on cities’ ability to self-govern, a right guaranteed by the Iowa Constitution. Officials also argued that the DOT did not have the authority to decide how police officers enforced speed regulations and that state officials failed to consider relevant information when they ordered removal of the cameras.

Traffic enforcement cameras have become prevalent in Iowa in the 12 years they have been in use in the state. They also have become a contentious subject. 

City officials say the devices, which record traffic violations using video equipment, enhance safety on roads. Motorists and some politicians say the cameras are a way to generate revenue for the jurisdictions that use them. Legislation aimed at imposing new regulations governing the devices passed the Senate this year but died in the House.

State rules passed in 2013 overseeing the traffic enforcement cameras required local jurisdictions to annually justify use of the devices and their placement on or near highways. The first reports were due in May 2014; 10 months later, the DOT ruled that 10 of 34 automated traffic enforcement cameras in six cities be turned off. Five cities asked the DOT to reconsider its ruling, and in May 2015, the state agency again ruled that the cameras be turned off.

Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Muscatine turned to the district courts, asking for a judicial review. The requests were combined into one case.

In his ruling, Polk County district court Judge Scott D. Rosenberg wrote that the DOT’s “actions were not unreasonable, arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion.”

In addition, Rosenberg wrote that the DOT “has the power to apply safety regulations to (automated traffic enforcement) use on primary highways, which does not interfere with municipal police officers’ ability to enforce speed regulations.”

James C. Larew, an Iowa City lawyer who has represented numerous people fighting citations they have received from the automated traffic enforcement cameras, was pleased with Rosenberg's ruling.

"Our clients applaud this ruling," Larew wrote in an email. "They believe that vehicle owners are being wrongfully prosecuted by cities using traffic camera equipment that the DOT, more than two years ago, properly ordered the cities to remove."

Wrote Andrea Henry, the state agency’s spokeswoman, in an email: The DOT “appreciates the judge’s consideration and believe that the judgment is well reasoned.”

Des Moines City Manager Scott Sanders said he was “disappointed” with the ruling and that the city would appeal Rosenberg’s decision.

Cedar Rapids City Manager Jeff Pomeranz said he had not read the ruling but said the city’s staff would “evaluate the judge’s ruling and go from there.”

Muscatine’s city administrator did not respond to requests for comment.   

The cities have 30 days to appeal Rosenberg’s decision.

The DOT wants speed-enforcement cameras removed from:

• Eastbound Interstate Highway 235 near Waveland Golf Course in Des Moines. City officials said that in 2016, the enforcement cameras generated about $4 million in revenue, $1.5 million of which went to Gatso, Inc., which owns and operates the devices. Ten accidents occurred in the area near the cameras in 2015, according to the city's most recent report to the DOT.
• Four locations along Interstate Highway 380 in Cedar Rapids. In the three years preceding the installation of the cameras, there were four fatalities on the stretch of interstate where the devices are now located. Since the devices were activated in 2010, no fatalities have occurred, according to the city's most recent report to the DOT. In 2015, 131,242 citations were issued from the automated traffic enforcement devices, more than double the 51,666 issued in 2011, according to the report.
• Westbound University Drive and U.S. Highway 61 in Muscatine. Speeding along that stretch of road has declined, according to the city's most recent report to the DOT. In 2013, 12,851 citations were issued; that fell to 7,554 in 2015, the report said.

The speed-enforcement cameras in the three cities have continued to operate during the appeal process.