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Board forwards proposed civil enforcement ordinance for illegal passing of stopped school buses to county commissioners
Summary
Staff told the board the proposed ordinance would convert illegal passing of stopped school buses from a criminal to a civil violation enforceable via bus‑mounted cameras; the board voted to forward the proposal to the Onslow County Board of Commissioners for consideration.
Staff presented a proposed ordinance allowing county civil enforcement of stop‑arm violations using automated camera evidence and a third‑party administrative vendor.
“As a civil matter, the citation attaches itself to the registered owner of the vehicle similar to a parking ticket,” the presenter said, explaining that the civil approach removes the need to prove who was driving at the time and allows administrative processing rather than criminal prosecution. Staff said the program would use cameras already on buses (Safety Vision) and a civil‑processing partner (SiteStream), with SiteStream prescreening footage and forwarding verified incidents to a sheriff‑designated law enforcement reviewer for issuance of citations.
Staff said there would be no upfront cost to the district because the vendor would be funded from a portion of fines collected. The proposal listed civil penalties "$400 for the 1st offense, $7.50 for the 2nd, and 1,000 for every subsequent offense" as presented in the packet. When board members asked about warnings, staff said vendors sometimes offer a grace period but that the district intended to launch without a warning window.
Next step: The board voted to forward the ordinance to the Onslow County Board of Commissioners for their consideration.
