WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (WAVY) — A three-judge panel will decide in the next several weeks if a case challenging work and school zone speed cameras was properly dismissed by a lower court, or if it deserves a full hearing.
Monday, the Virginia Court of Appeals heard arguments in the case of Curtis Lytle v. City of Suffolk.
Lytle sued the city in 2024 over issue with speed cameras used by the city. He was issued $100 fine by a camera in a work zone and sent the ticket by a third-party vendor. He alleges the city is not following state law by not using the Virginia uniform summons and the local court system for speeding tickets.
A circuit court judge dismissed the case, saying Suffolk was operating in a governmental function when it put up cameras to catch speeders in school and construction zones.
Lytle’s Attorney, Tim Anderson, found the lower court ruling flawed.
“If the city is breaking the law, shouldn’t the citizen be able to go to the court and say, ‘Hey, before I pay this, can you tell me if the city’s complying with the demand,'” Anderson said.
Appellete Court Judges Frank K. Friedman, Mary B. Malveaux and William G. Petty heard the arguments from both Anderson and Assistant City Attorney Rebecca Powers.
Petty asked what was stopping Lytle from contesting the ticket through the legal process provided.
Anderson acknowledged his client could have done that, but didn’t believe the request for money was a lawful demand.
“The General Assembly specifically said in the code, you have to write it just like a regular speeding ticket. And that’s what they’re skipping,” Anderson said. “And they can’t, they couldn’t do it otherwise. They couldn’t dump 130,000 tickets in Suffolk into the General District Court.”
However, Powers argued every ticket is reviewed by a sworn police officer. Out of more than 45,900 citations the third party sought in one period of time, she said, Suffolk Police rejected 18,000 of them.
The panel is expected to reveal their decision in several months.
