Several Maryland jurisdictions that have or are considering speed cameras to ticket drivers say they are paying close attention to a class-action lawsuit filed in Montgomery County. At issue is whether the county has been operating its speed camera program illegally by paying its contractor per ticket. The lawsuit is expected to be heard June 30 in Montgomery County Circuit Court. Maryland law states, "If a contractor operates a speed monitoring system on behalf of a local jurisdiction, the contractor's fee may not be contingent on the number of citations issued or paid."
Besides Montgomery County, local jurisdictions Rockville, Gaithersburg and Chevy Chase Village, which operate their own speed camera programs, are named in the lawsuit. Maryland Sen. Alex X. Mooney (R-Dist. 3), who has long opposed speed cameras, says he hopes the lawsuit is successful and that the county and others are forced to end their speed-camera programs.
"It's exactly one of the many things we were worried about," Mooney said of the lawsuit's claims. "And [Montgomery County's practice] does violate the intent of the law. We specifically said during discussions and debate that we did not want to provide financial incentives for these companies to ticket people."
But Montgomery County spokesman Patrick K. Lacefield says the county's program is legal. Under a contract with Texas-based Affiliated Computer Services Inc., the county pays the company $16.25 per ticket. After paying a vendor, the county only would receive about $2 from a $40 citation, he said.
SOURCE: http://www.gazette.net/stories/02052010/polinew203335_32556.php
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