Louisiana Senator Moves to Ban Speed Cameras Statewide

SHREVEPORT, LA - Louisiana lawmakers begin the legislative session next week. One of the bills they will discuss is a measure that would effectively ban speed cameras across the state. Senator Stewart Cathey has proposed SB 99 which would make a major change.

The Cathey Speed Camera Bill Has This Verbiage:

This bill "clarifies violating the prohibitions of hand held, manned and unmanned traffic cameras or speed limit enforcement devices used for the purpose of issuing citations by mail is malfeasance in office."

So this bill would say that any public servant who approves these cameras would be committing malfeasance in office. Seriously? Yes. That is exactly what Cathey is proposing. Senator Cathey says these speed cameras are nothing more than a money grab by these municipalities and he wants them banned.

Cathey says every American has the right to confront their accuser, but in the case of these cameras, you don't have that right. This bill will first be heard in the Judiciary Committee and he's confident he has the votes to get it out of committee. In fact, he's very optimistic that this bill will pass during the session.

But if it does not pass, Cathey has another measure that would change where the money from these tickets goes. Currently, the municipalities get the bulk of the cash. Cathey's proposal would send 100% of the money to the Sheriff's Office in each parish to be spent on Juvenile Justice initiatives.

KEEL News asked Cathey about the revenue from these tickets and he told us this is a huge money grab for many towns. He gave us the example of Clayton, Louisiana. He says the town got $21,000 in traffic fines in 2022. But in 2023 after speed cameras were installed, the town took in almost $500,000 dollars.

Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux and the City Council have approved a plan to put speed cameras at several locations around town (in addition to the school zone cameras), but the Mayor says he's going to hold off on moving forward while we wait to see what the legislature does on this issue.