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Ruston proposes Parking Infraction Hearing Examiner to handle camera citations after courts decline processing
Summary
Facing court-capacity constraints, Ruston presented ORD 1600 to create an independent Parking Infraction Hearing Examiner to adjudicate parking and camera infractions and ORD 1601 to amend code references; background materials say Fircrest Municipal Court will not process the volume and Pierce County District Court estimated high costs if contracted, prompting the local hearing-examiner approach.
The City presented two related ordinances on Feb. 3: ORD 1600 would establish an independent Parking Infraction Hearing Examiner to process parking and automated-camera infractions; ORD 1601 would amend municipal code references to assign jurisdiction to that examiner. Background materials say Fircrest Municipal Court declined to process additional camera-generated infractions due to capacity limits, and that contracting with Pierce County District Court would be costly for the city (the staff background cites an estimated first-year district-court cost of about $3,000,000, or roughly $57 per infraction, figures used to justify a local adjudication system).
Councilmember Jensen described the pair of ordinances as the enabling steps that allow the traffic-camera program to function locally and thanked Chief Bautista for research that helped put the camera and adjudication proposals on the table. Councilmember Wilson asked whether low-income ticket reductions and administrative fees would be covered by camera-generated revenue; Councilmember Jensen and Chief Bautista confirmed that administrative costs and equity allocations were contemplated to be covered by program revenue. Both ordinances were set for second reading and possible action on Feb. 17, 2026.
