YOUNGSTOWN — Unmanned speed cameras in school zones, which went dark about a year ago after only three months of use, will return in September, the city’s law director said.

“We’ve been working on it really hard and we plan to restart in the fall,” said Law Director Lori Shells Simmons. “We’re very happy about that.”

The cameras stopped being used in school zones in Youngstown when classes ended, between May 18, 2023, and June 2, 2023. The city implemented the speed cameras in phases beginning Feb. 21, 2023. The speed cameras at 19 schools were supposed to be turned back on Sept. 18, when school began in Youngstown after a nearly one-month teacher strike was resolved.

But that didn’t happen because of a protracted dispute between Youngstown Municipal Court and the city administration about how to handle speed citation appeals.

The disagreement was how or if the court would hold hearings on contested speed citations in school zones from the unmanned cameras.

In the three months of enforcement, there were 22,424 speeding citations issued. Of those, about 300 are being contested.

In a Sept. 11 email to city administration officials as city council was preparing modifications to the speed camera ordinance, court Administrator David Magura Jr. wrote, “Rushing this process without due diligence could lead to unintended consequences and complications in our operations,” and the administration’s proposal “does not offer a comprehensive analysis of the potential ramifications on our docket and operations.”

City council made the minor changes to the ordinance Sept. 20 and it didn’t result in the court taking action.

In an April 4, 2023, letter to administration officials, municipal court Judge Carla Baldwin wrote, “In short, the city appears to have enacted these ordinances without in any way ensuring that there are appropriate procedures, resources or personnel necessary to carry out the appeals stated in the ordinance.”

City council recently agreed to have the court hire a part-time magistrate to hear cases from those contesting the speed citations in school zones. Blue Line, the Chattanooga, Tennessee, company that runs the program, had previously offered to pay for a magistrate to get the cameras operating again.

Shells Simmons said there have been meetings with officials from the city administration and the court along with Blue Line about the magistrate situation and getting the court concerns resolved so the program can restart.

Everyone is in support of the court hiring a part-time magistrate, she said.

There is a final meeting June 10 to “wrap it up,” Shells Simmons said. “It will put everyone on the same page so we can start the program when school begins.”

The fall semester for the Youngstown school district starts Sept. 4.

Magura couldn’t be reached Thursday to comment.

COLLECTIONS

The city collected $596,318 from the citations with more than $300,000 received since it became publicly known in September the program was suspended, and there’s no apparent penalty for not paying the citations.

The city gets 65% of the money collected with Blue Line receiving the other 35%.

Blue Line’s take of the paid citations is $321,094.

Cameras were in use on school days from the time kids headed to class until 6 p.m. They weren’t used on weekends, during the summer and on days when class is not in session.

During the two hours in the morning that kids go to school, and the two hours when they leave, the speed limit in those zones is 20 mph. In between and after school ends, the speed limit is 25 mph and 35 mph depending on the location.

Motorists caught going at least 11 mph over the speed limit and up to 14 mph over it face a penalty of $100. Those going 15 to 20 mph over the limit face a $125 penalty and those traveling faster than 20 mph over the limit face a $150 penalty. They do not get points on their driving record for the citations.

Even at the minimum $100 penalty, that would mean the collection rate is about 41%.

Under state law that restricts the use of speed cameras, Youngstown can use its share of the speed camera citation collections for only school safety resources, such as improvements to school zones and crosswalks near those buildings.

The city has spent none of its citation money to date.

STATE LAW

Also, last year’s state transportation budget included a provision addressing the use of a “traffic law photo-monitoring device.” The provision was first passed in March 2015.

The provision states, “A local authority shall use a traffic law photo-monitoring device to detect and enforce traffic law violations only if a law enforcement officer is present at the location of the device at all times during the operation of the device.”

Shells Simmons said the law exempts the requirement of an officer if it’s in a school zone.

When it was pointed out the law doesn’t have such an exemption, Shells Simmons said, “In a school zone you don’t have to have the officer present. That is the long and short of it.”

The Ohio Supreme Court in July 2017 ruled it was unconstitutional for the state Legislature to require a police officer to be present when cities with home rule use cameras for traffic enforcement. Youngstown is a home rule city.

The court ruled 5-2 in favor of Dayton, which brought the lawsuit, writing a state law “which requires that a law enforcement officer be present at the location of a traffic camera infringes on the municipality’s legislative authority without serving an overriding state interest and is therefore unconstitutional.”

Youngstown city officials have said numerous times that it used the unmanned speed cameras in school zones because there aren’t enough police officers to patrol those areas.