Bill Text: IA HF2681 | 2023-2024 | 90th General Assembly | Enrolled

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Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to automated traffic systems, including for traffic law enforcement and for capture of registration plate images, providing penalties, and including effective date provisions. (Formerly HSB 740.) Effective date: 05/17/2024, 07/01/2024.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Passed) 2024-05-17 - Signed by Governor. H.J. 940. [HF2681 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2023-HF2681-Enrolled.html

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House File 2681 - Enrolled
House File 2681
AN ACT
RELATING TO AUTOMATED TRAFFIC SYSTEMS, INCLUDING FOR TRAFFIC
LAW ENFORCEMENT AND FOR CAPTURE OF REGISTRATION PLATE
IMAGES, PROVIDING PENALTIES, AND INCLUDING EFFECTIVE DATE
PROVISIONS.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
DIVISION I
AUTOMATED OR REMOTE SYSTEMS FOR TRAFFIC LAW ENFORCEMENT ——
AUTOMATIC REGISTRATION PLATE READERS
Section 1. NEW SECTION . 321P.1 Definitions.
As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise
requires:
1. “Automated or remote system for traffic law enforcement”
or “system” means a camera or other optical device designed to
work in conjunction with a speed measuring device to detect
motor vehicles being operated in violation of the speed limit,
the use of which results in the issuance of citations sent
through the mail or by electronic means.
2. “Critical traffic safety issues” include traffic
violations resulting in a traffic collision or accident and
traffic collisions and accidents resulting in serious injury or
death occurring at a location.
3. “Department” means the state department of
transportation.

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4. “Local authority” means a county or municipality
having authority to adopt local police regulations under the
Constitution of the State of Iowa and laws of this state.
Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 321P.2 Permit required —— local
ordinances.
1. A person shall not use an automated or remote system
for traffic law enforcement unless authorized under this
chapter. A local authority shall not adopt, enforce, or
otherwise administer an ordinance authorizing the use of a
system, and shall not use a system, unless the local authority
holds a valid permit to use a system at the system’s location.
Notwithstanding section 331.302, subsection 6, and section
380.3, the governing body of a local authority that is
considering an ordinance to authorize or implement traffic law
enforcement by automated or remote systems shall not suspend
the requirements of section 331.302, subsection 6, or section
380.3, as applicable.
2. A local authority may apply for a permit by submitting
an application to the department in a manner determined by
the department. The department may approve or disapprove
the application for a permit based on the department’s
determination that a system is appropriate and necessary and
the least restrictive means to address the critical traffic
safety issues at a location. The department shall only issue
one permit for a local authority, which shall set forth all
locations at which a local authority is authorized to use a
system. A local authority may submit an application to the
department to update the local authority’s permit with a new
location in the same manner and with the same information as
required for the initial permit. An application for a permit
must contain all of the following for a location at which the
local authority intends to operate a system:
a. Records detailing the number and description of traffic
violations at the location, which shall be compiled and
maintained by the local authority for at least one year prior
to the installation of the system and for each year the system
is in operation. The records shall be considered public
records for purposes of chapter 22.
b. Records detailing the number and severity of traffic

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collisions and accidents occurring at the location.
c. An analysis of existing traffic speed data, posted speed
limits, traffic volume data, and intersection and roadway
measurements of the location. The analysis must demonstrate to
the department that existing speed restrictions are appropriate
and must describe how the speed restrictions were established.
d. The proposed cause of critical traffic safety issues at
the location.
e. Alternative methods to improve traffic safety at the
location that the local authority has implemented or has
considered but declined to implement. Alternative methods
to improve traffic safety may include but are not limited to
changes relating to law enforcement practices, roadway or
intersection design, traffic control devices used, and public
education campaigns.
f. Details of discussions, if any, held with an entity
that has resources which may aid the reduction of traffic
collisions and accidents caused at the location by failure to
obey speed restrictions and subsequent actions taken by the
local authority.
g. An explanation detailing the reasons that the use of a
system at the location is appropriate and necessary and the
least restrictive means to address the critical traffic safety
issues.
Sec. 3. NEW SECTION . 321P.3 Use limited.
1. A local authority shall not use an automated or remote
system for traffic law enforcement to issue a citation for a
traffic violation unless the violation is for exceeding the
speed limit by more than ten miles per hour.
2. A local authority with a population of twenty thousand or
less based on the most recent federal decennial census shall
not use a mobile system to issue a citation for a traffic
violation. The department shall adopt rules pursuant to
chapter 17A otherwise authorizing and regulating the operation
of mobile systems, taking into consideration a mobile system’s
mobility, flexible usage, and the needs of a local authority to
control traffic speed to address critical traffic safety issues
at a location. However, the rules shall not authorize the use
of a mobile system other than in neighborhoods, construction

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zones, school zones, including collegiate zones, and locations
where traffic enforcement is difficult or dangerous to enforce
by alternative methods.
3. A local authority, regardless of its population, may
issue a warning memorandum to the owner of a vehicle that was
operated in violation of a traffic law if the violation was
detected by an automated or remote system for traffic law
enforcement, including a mobile system.
Sec. 4. NEW SECTION . 321P.4 Automatic registration plate
readers —— data retention limited.
1. The operator of an automatic registration plate reader
or any associated data storage device shall permanently delete
from the plate reader and storage device, as applicable, every
image of a vehicle registration plate captured by the plate
reader, and any other accompanying data, no later than thirty
days after the image was captured.
2. Prior to deletion under subsection 1, an image of
a vehicle registration plate captured by an automatic
registration plate reader, and any other accompanying data,
may be copied and stored by a law enforcement agency if the
image and data are relevant to an ongoing criminal case or
investigation. The law enforcement agency shall maintain
the copied registration plate image and accompanying data in
accordance with the agency’s evidence retention policies.
Copies maintained by the law enforcement agency are not subject
to subsection 1.
3. For purposes of this section, “automatic registration
plate reader” or “plate reader” means a camera or other optical
device designed or programmed to automatically detect a
vehicle’s registration plate, or to automatically capture
or store an image of a vehicle’s registration plate and any
accompanying data.
4. A person who violates subsection 1 commits a simple
misdemeanor.
Sec. 5. NEW SECTION . 321P.5 Notice —— signage and reports.
1. a. A local authority shall not operate an automated or
remote system for traffic law enforcement at a fixed location
unless permanent signs meeting the requirements as specified in
the department manual on uniform traffic-control devices and

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giving notice of the system are erected at least five hundred
feet but not more than one thousand feet along the approach of
the highway where the system is used.
b. A local authority shall not operate a mobile automated
or remote system for traffic law enforcement unless permanent
signs meeting the requirements as specified in the department
manual on uniform traffic-control devices and giving notice
of the local authority’s use of a mobile system within the
boundaries of the local authority are posted at every location
where a highway enters the boundaries of the local authority.
c. Signs required under this subsection shall be erected
by the local authority at the local authority’s expense at
least thirty days prior to a system enforcing any detected
violations.
2. A local authority using a system shall submit to the
department an annual report by March 1 of each year detailing
the number of traffic collisions and accidents that occurred at
each location where a system is in use, the number of citations
issued for each system during the previous calendar year, and
any other relevant information about the systems that the local
authority deems appropriate. The local authority shall post
the report on the local authority’s internet site, if the local
authority has an internet site.
Sec. 6. NEW SECTION . 321P.6 Enforcement.
1. A local authority shall not issue a citation or warning
memorandum for a violation detected by a system until a peace
officer of the local authority, or an individual trained and
certified by the local authority, has reviewed and approved
the recorded photograph or video to affirm a traffic violation
occurred.
2. a. For an excessive speed violation detected by a system
other than as provided in paragraph “b” , the fine shall not
exceed the following amounts:
(1) Seventy-five dollars for speed greater than ten miles
per hour in excess of the limit but not more than twenty miles
per hour in excess of the limit.
(2) One hundred dollars for speed greater than twenty miles
per hour in excess of the limit but not more than twenty-five
miles per hour in excess of the limit.

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(3) Two hundred fifty dollars for speed greater than
twenty-five miles per hour in excess of the limit but not more
than thirty miles per hour in excess of the limit.
(4) Five hundred dollars for speed greater than thirty miles
per hour in excess of the limit.
b. For an excessive speed violation detected by a system in
a road work zone, as defined in section 321.1, the fine shall
not exceed the following amounts:
(1) One hundred fifty dollars for speed greater than ten
miles per hour in excess of the limit but not more than twenty
miles per hour in excess of the limit.
(2) Two hundred dollars for speed greater than twenty miles
per hour in excess of the limit but not more than twenty-five
miles per hour in excess of the limit.
(3) Five hundred dollars for speed greater than twenty-five
miles per hour in excess of the limit but not more than thirty
miles per hour in excess of the limit.
(4) One thousand dollars for speed greater than thirty miles
per hour in excess of the limit.
3. A system not in compliance with this chapter shall not
be used to detect violations. A citation issued while the
system is not in compliance with this chapter is void and
unenforceable.
4. A violation detected by an automated or remote system
for traffic law enforcement is a civil infraction. Such
a violation shall not be considered by the department of
transportation for purposes of driver’s license sanctions,
and shall not be considered by an insurer for purposes of a
person’s automobile insurance rates. The fine associated with
a citation issued by a local authority as the result of the use
of a system must be a civil penalty.
Sec. 7. NEW SECTION . 321P.7 Liability for violations
detected.
1. A citation for a violation detected by an automated or
remote system for traffic law enforcement shall be issued to
the owner of the identified motor vehicle.
2. a. Notwithstanding subsection 1, a local authority shall
provide the owner of a motor vehicle who receives a citation
for a violation detected by a system with an opportunity

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to submit evidence that the owner was not operating the
motor vehicle at the time of the violation. As part of the
proceeding, the owner shall provide the name and address of the
person who was operating the motor vehicle at the time of the
violation.
b. Notwithstanding subsection 1, a citation issued to the
owner of a motor vehicle may be amended and issued to the
person identified under paragraph “a” who was operating the
motor vehicle.
3. For purposes of this section, “owner” means a person
who holds the legal title to a motor vehicle. However, if the
motor vehicle is the subject of a security agreement with a
right of possession in the debtor, the debtor is deemed the
owner for purposes of this section, or if the motor vehicle is
leased as defined in section 321.493, the lessee is deemed the
owner for purposes of this section.
Sec. 8. NEW SECTION . 321P.8 Restrictions on use of revenue.
A local authority shall not use any revenue received as
a result of the use of a system and retained by the local
authority, not including the cost to install, operate, and
maintain the system, other than for any of the following
purposes:
1. To fund transportation infrastructure improvement
projects.
2. To offset costs incurred relating to the operation of a
police department or fire department.
Sec. 9. NEW SECTION . 321P.9 Installation and maintenance.
1. A local authority shall install a system in a manner that
minimizes the effect of camera flash on drivers, if a camera
flash is used.
2. An automated or remote system for traffic law enforcement
must only record a photograph or video of the rear of a vehicle
and the vehicle’s registration plate while the vehicle is used
to commit an alleged traffic violation. A local authority
shall not install a system such that the system’s camera is
placed to capture the front of a motor vehicle or the face of
any person in the vehicle being recorded. In accordance with
section 321P.6, subsection 3, a citation issued by a system
that captures the front of a motor vehicle or the face of any

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person in the vehicle is void and unenforceable.
3. A system must verify its internal calibrations daily, and
a person trained in the calibration of the system shall conduct
a monthly calibration.
4. A local authority operating a system shall maintain
a monthly log detailing whether a person trained in the
calibration of the system successfully performed the monthly
calibrations and whether the system successfully performed the
daily internal calibrations.
5. The log and documentation of the calibrations required
under this section are admissible in any court proceeding
relating to a violation detected by the system.
6. If a daily or monthly calibration is not successfully
performed, the system shall not operate until a successful
calibration is subsequently performed.
DIVISION II
EXISTING SYSTEMS
Sec. 10. EXISTING SYSTEMS.
1. A local authority using an automated or remote system for
traffic law enforcement prior to January 1, 2024, may submit
to the department of transportation by July 1, 2024, a list
of system locations and justifications for placement and use
of the systems at the locations in conformance with section
321P.2, as enacted by this Act, to the extent practicable,
as determined by the department. The department shall, by
October 1, 2024, issue a permit as provided in section 321P.2,
as enacted by this Act, to a local authority that provided
valid submissions in accordance with this subsection. A local
authority using a system prior to January 1, 2024, may continue
to use the system in the same manner and at the same locations
as the system was used on or before January 1, 2024, during
the period of time between the local authority’s submission to
the department and the date the department issues the permit
to the local authority, unless the system is a mobile system
prohibited under section 321P.3, as enacted by this Act. If,
on October 1, 2024, a local authority has not been issued a
permit by the department as a result of a submission that was
not timely filed, or due to a timely filed submission that did
not otherwise comply with this subsection, the local authority

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shall cease using all systems until the local authority obtains
a permit from the department pursuant to section 321P.2, as
enacted by this Act.
2. A local authority using an automated or remote system
for traffic law enforcement at a location for the first time
on or after January 1, 2024, shall not be issued a permit by
the department of transportation pursuant to section 321P.2, as
enacted by this Act, before July 1, 2026.
Sec. 11. EFFECTIVE DATE. This division of this Act, being
deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon enactment.
______________________________ ______________________________
PAT GRASSLEY AMY SINCLAIR
Speaker of the House President of the Senate
I hereby certify that this bill originated in the House and
is known as House File 2681, Ninetieth General Assembly.
______________________________
MEGHAN NELSON
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved _______________, 2024 ______________________________
KIM REYNOLDS
Governor