AB 859

This bill allows law enforcement agencies in the city of Milwaukee to use an

automated speed enforcement system (ASES) to identify speed limit violations and

allows the common council of the City of Milwaukee to enact an ordinance that

permits the use of a traffic control photographic system (TCPS) on highways under

the jurisdiction of the city to identify traffic signal violations.

Under current law, law enforcement officers may not use any radar device

combined with photographic identification of a vehicle to determine compliance with

motor vehicle speed limits. Under this bill, local law enforcement agencies in the city

of Milwaukee may use an ASES to determine compliance with speed limits. With

exceptions, the vehicle owner is subject to a forfeiture for a speed limit violation

detected by an ASES. However, no traffic citation may be issued for a speed limit

violation for which the ASES indicated a speed of less than 20 miles per hour above

the speed limit alleged to be violated. The owner is subject to the same forfeiture that

would be applicable to the vehicle operator for the violation. The bill also imposes

a number of administrative requirements on a law enforcement agency that uses an

ASES to determine compliance with speed limits. The authorization of the use of

ASES to determine compliance with speed limits expires five years after this bill

takes effect.

This bill also authorizes the common council of the City of Milwaukee to enact

an ordinance that permits the use of a TCPS on highways under the jurisdiction of

the city to detect motor vehicles that fail to properly stop at red traffic signals at

intersections. A TCPS is an electronic system that automatically produces

photographs of motor vehicles traveling through an intersection. With exceptions,

the vehicle owner may be subject to a forfeiture for a traffic signal violation detected

by a TCPS of not more than the amount provided for a traffic signal violation under

current law, currently between $40 to $100. The authorization of the use of a TCPS

to detect traffic signal violations expires five years after this bill takes effect.

Forfeitures collected under either of these authorizations must be appropriated

to the agency providing police service in the political subdivision that collected the

forfeiture.