MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis drivers, along with lawyers and state lawmakers, have been asking for years if it is required to pay off red light camera tickets.
Many people have taken issue with the ticket program. Former State Representative Andy Holt has been one of the most outspoken, repeatedly urging people across the state not to pay the tickets. At one point, the former lawmaker even burned a citation he received in the mail.
Holt eventually introduced a bill to make it harder for cities like Memphis to hand out citations from red light cameras. However, after ABC24 first reported on the topic back in 2020, people like Kevin Nichols from Jackson, TN were wondering what happened to it.
Former Rep. Holt first introduced HB 1656 back in 2020. According to Legiscan, the bill “prohibits the issuance of traffic citations based solely on evidence obtained from unmanned traffic cameras used to monitor and enforce traffic signal violations or speed limits.”
Lawmakers struck the bill down before it even left the committee by a vote of four to two.
Attorney Murray Wells said you still do not need to pay off your tickets from these cameras.
“What I tell my son, when he gets those occasionally, is to put those in the trash. There doesn’t seem to be any statutory authority to enforce a ticket,” said Wells.
A lot of people often pay off their tickets to avoid long-term effects on their driver’s license or credit. However, according to Lenagar & Barnes, Tennessee State Law requires each citation to say in large bold letters:
“NON-PAYMENT OF THIS VIOLATION CANNOT HAVE A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON YOUR DRIVERS LICENSE, CAR INSURANCE RATES, OR CREDIT REPORT.”
While the city of Memphis can take you to court to collect the 50-dollar ticket, most cases do not get that far, according to Wells.
“They know that if that other person shows up with a lawyer, one of two things can happen: either that case is going to get dismissed outright, or a really good lawyer will take that case on appeal all the way up to the Tennessee Court of Appeals and establish a body law that would cut off their revenue stream,” said Wells.
ABC24 can Verify that the proposed law did not pass, and even if you do receive a citation from a red-light camera, according to Wells, Lenagar and Barnes, you do not need to pay it off.
The sources for this Verify were Legiscan, the City of Memphis, Wells and Associates and Lenagar & Barnes Attorneys at Law.