Ruston outlines traffic-camera rollout, court setup and new ALPR limits

City staff described early administrative steps for a planned automated traffic-camera program and warned of new state restrictions on license-plate readers. Chief of Police Nestor Bautista told the council that NovoaGlobal holds the site contract for the traffic-camera project and that the city must establish an administrative hearing process — including selection of a hearing venue, an appointed hearing examiner and a court clerk to handle citations. The council was told the Mary Joyce Community Center has been selected as the venue and that a police officer will serve temporarily as court clerk while the city seeks a hearing examiner (the prosecutor’s office would be a conflict of interest).

Bautista said the program requires a complicated administrative backend for court and accounting systems, and he emphasized accessibility requirements: the ticketing process must be ADA compliant so that people with disabilities can contest tickets virtually. He also reported that recent state legislation curtails automated license-plate-reader (ALPR) use—limiting their role in many misdemeanor investigations—and places monthly reporting and record-keeping obligations on the department. Staff clarified that camera-derived data can only be retained for 21 days under the current plan.

Councilmembers discussed fiscal offsets: Jensen asked whether revenue from the cameras could cover traffic-court administrative costs and received confirmation that revenues dedicated to public safety would reduce general-fund spending on public safety. Hedrick asked about data-retention timelines and was told 21 days.