Traffic camera regulations, limitations signed into law by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds

DES MOINES — The use of automated traffic enforcement cameras like those in Cedar Rapids will require more effort — including providing proof they are necessary to improve safety — from local governments under legislation signed into law Friday by Gov. Kim Reynolds.

The new law does not ban traffic cameras, as some state lawmakers have sought for years. However, it does require local authorities to receive a permit from the state to place or to continue to use a traffic camera, and stipulates how local governments can spend revenue from tickets.

The permitting process will run through the Iowa Department of Transportation, which will consider traffic and crash figures when determining whether a camera is justified.

Reynolds did not comment on the law in the news release that announced its signing.

Sen. Mike Klimesh, a Republican from Spillville who was that town’s mayor for 22 years, said during Senate debate last month he believes the legislation establishes “a very robust regulatory framework” that requires governments to justify the need for cameras.

The bill, House File 2681, passed the Iowa Legislature with broad, bipartisan support; it passed the Iowa Senate, 46-1, and the House, 85-12.

Iowa’s 377 traffic deaths in 2023 were the state’s most since 2016, and the state’s 11.2 percent increase in vehicle-related deaths from 2022 to 2023 was the nation’s fourth-highest, according to a recent federal report.

At least 25 Iowa cities operated automated traffic enforcement cameras in the 2023 fiscal year, according to the latest data available to the Iowa Legislative Services Agency, the nonpartisan agency that provides statistical analysis for the Iowa Legislature. The agency was able to obtain data on traffic camera usage in 10 of those cities, including Cedar Rapids.

Cedar Rapids had 19 traffic cameras — including at four locations around the s-curve on downtown’s Interstate 380 — operating in fiscal 2023, according to the agency. The city issued nearly 170,000 citations and collected fines on 55 percent of those, producing $7.2 million in revenue, according to the analysis — far more than the other cities measured, including Des Moines.

According to data from the city of Cedar Rapids, the per-month average of total crashes and crashes with an injury in the city have fallen since the traffic cameras were implemented there in 2010.

Marion began operating automated traffic cameras at two locations in 2023, and University Heights said it was installing them at two locations this year, but has since scrapped the program.

How the law will work

Local governments will be required to obtain a permit from the Iowa DOT to place an automated traffic enforcement camera on any road. Existing cameras will be allowed to continue operation until Oct. 1 — but local governments must obtain an Iowa DOT permit to continue them beyond that point.

The Iowa DOT, asked how the department will accommodate all traffic camera requests by Oct. 1, said in an email it would not be able to comment until next week.

When applying for a permit, the local authority will be required to provide data, including traffic and crash figures that illustrate why a traffic camera is needed in that location.

Cameras can be used only to cite drivers who fail to yield or stop at a traffic signal-controlled intersection or a railroad crossing, or who exceed the speed limit by more than 10 mph. Local authorities will be required to review and approve a record of the alleged traffic violation captured by a traffic camera before a citation is issued.

Cedar Rapids, among other cities, already meet the requirements.

Cities with a population of 20,000 or less are prohibited from issuing fines from violations observed by mobile automated traffic enforcement cameras — equipment installed in a vehicle or trailer parked along a shoulder. Those cities can issue only warnings for violations observed by mobile devices.

Local governments are required to spend their share of the revenue from traffic camera citations on transportation infrastructure or on police or fire department operations.

Of the 10 cities for which the Legislative Services Agency acquired data, six — including Cedar Rapids — send traffic camera ticket revenue to the city’s general fund.

Cedar Rapids says revenue from its traffic cameras is directed to public safety and was budgeted in its fiscal 2023 to fund 33 officer positions, as well as for law enforcement programs and equipment, such as maintenance of police body cameras.

Waterloo sends traffic camera ticket revenue to the general fund to be used for police equipment; Buffalo puts its toward public safety; Muscatine toward police personnel; and Des Moines to its public safety radio system and the Iowa Statewide Interoperable Communications System.

Local officials react

In Linn County, Cedar Rapids and Marion use the speed and red-light enforcement cameras. Both police departments supported the regulation, seeing it as a better option than banning the cameras altogether.

“If you look at our data, and what we’ve collected over the years in the areas that we’ve placed (the cameras), you can see we’ve had a reduction in the number of serious injuries and fatality crashes,” said Cedar Rapids Police Capt. Charlie Fields. “We were happy when the bill went through because then we can continue to use that technology to help make Cedar Rapids a better place for the motoring public.”

While Cedar Rapids earned $7.2 million from the cameras in fiscal 2023, Sensys Gato — the camera vendor — earned $1.8 million, according to a fiscal note to the Legislature.

Marion Police Chief Mike Kitsmiller said he made multiple trips to Des Moines while the bill was being discussed, and he was ultimately happy with the outcome. He worked with the Iowa Police Chiefs Association to make some recommendations, including removing language that would have banned license plate reader cameras.

“We’re happy to see some consistency in how (traffic cameras) are used. I think that they get a bad rap. I think, without naming names, there are some areas where I don't think the use of them was as noble as others. I think in some of them it was being used as just a money generating system. For those of us that are using them correctly, I think we all welcome that oversight and having something on board,” Kitsmiller said.

Cedar Rapids Assistant to the City Manager Amanda Grieder said the locations of the cameras in Cedar Rapids will not be changing, and she doesn’t anticipate difficulty getting them approved. Kitsmiller was also confident the Marion cameras will stay.

In 2015, the Iowa DOT ordered Cedar Rapids to take down two of the I-380 camera locations and make changes to several other locations. The department said cameras in the northbound lanes at J Avenue NE and in the southbound lanes at First Avenue W were not appropriate because drivers already had made their way through the s-curve.

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The Iowa DOT ruling, which included orders in five other cities, led to lawsuits by the cities. A 2018 ruling by the Iowa Supreme Court said state transportation officials overstepped their authority and cleared the way for the traffic cameras to remain.

None of the cities in Johnson County use the cameras. University Heights started installing cameras earlier this year, after signing a contract with Florida-based company Traffipax. The city scrapped the cameras after the bill passed, noting it prohibits cities with a population of 20,000 or less from issuing fines from mobile traffic cameras.

“The city will not incur any costs” in ending the deal, University Heights Police Chief Troy Kelsay said in an email.

Emily Andersen of The Gazette contributed to this report.

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