So, Those ACS Red-Light Cameras Aren't Legal? Wait Just a Minute.

An interesting case to keep an eye on this a.m. in 192nd Civil District Court Judge Craig Smith's courtroom: Amanda Ward v. ACS State and Local Solutions Inc., in which a local attorney has taken Affiliated Computer Services to court for mailing to the house a traffic ticket the attorney...

By Robert Wilonsky

December 2, 2008

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An interesting case to keep an eye on this a.m. in 192nd Civil District Court Judge Craig Smith's courtroom: Amanda Ward v. ACS State and Local Solutions Inc., in which a local attorney has taken Affiliated Computer Services to court for mailing to the house a traffic ticket the attorney says is no danged good. Says the plaintiff, Dallas-based ACS -- which is getting more than $13 million from the city to run the red-light cameras -- can't actually do any law enforcing since, well, it's not a law-enforcement agency.

For that matter, it doesn't even qualify under state law as an investigations company that could turn over evidence "for use before a court, board, officer, or investigating committee," because ACS doesn't have the required investigations company license that involves, among other things, extensive criminal checks of all of its employees. From the looks of this summary judgment from November, Judge Smith agrees. And he'll have more to say today, as he figures out the penalties and procedures moving forward. --Robert Wilonsky

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