Legislature adjourns with no decision on speed camera bills

The Georgia General Assembly adjourned last week leaving two bills related to the controversial school zone speed cameras on the table until next year. 

One of the bills, introduced by Rep. Dale Washburn, R-Macon, would ban the cameras. 

“I am not giving up on this,” Washburn said. “These camera systems are abusing Georgians and taking millions of dollars out of Georgians’ pockets.”

Though changes were made to the bill he introduced, Washburn said he was prepared to agree to them, but was not permitted to step up to the lectern to do so.

One of the amendments, made without Washburn’s input, would allow out-of-state companies that own the speed cameras to continue operating them through 2028.

“I had a conversation with the lieutenant governor about some other changes that might be appealing to him. And so that is where we are,” Washburn said, adding that he would continue pushing the bill in 2026. 

A bill introduced by Rep. Alan Powell, R-Hartwell, would regulate the use of the speed cameras. Powell’s bill would set specific hours and require the use of flashing lights to warn motorists of the radar speed detection. 

The speed detection technology has been lucrative for Macon-Bibb County and Altumint, the Maryland-based company with which it contracts. Of the roughly $11.2 million collected from speeding motorists in Bibb County since 2022, the county made $8.9 million and the company kept $2.78 million.

Mayor Lester Miller has been a proponent of the cameras, which are installed in front of public and private schools throughout the county. Some private schools have requested that the county stop ticketing passersby following complaints from parents who were ticketed. The county agreed, but public schools cannot individually opt out.

On March 19, Sheriff David Davis announced he would stop signing off on traffic citations because of the resulting “unequal application of the law.” 

Traffic violations are still being recorded on the cameras, but Davis said the sheriff’s office has stopped signing tickets and has no plan to retroactively ticket drivers. 

“I think it needs to be uniform for whatever criteria where we’re going to put them,” Davis previously told The Melody.

The sheriff said he would wait for guidance from the legislature, but that didn’t happen this session. 

It is unclear whether the cameras will be reactivated. A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office said the sheriff is set to meet with the mayor soon to discuss the matter.