Sioux City speed camera.
Sioux City officials say they hope to resolve the dispute with the state of South Dakota regarding traffic camera fines against that state’s residents on Interstate 29 in the city limits.
South Dakota took action Wednesday to block Sioux City Police from accessing addresses of that state’s drivers to locate offenders and mail them citations based on a 2014 state law.
Assistant City Attorney Justin Vondrak says he hopes to speak with South Dakota governor’s policy advisor, Matt Konenkamp, or other state officials on the matter. He says the city wants to talk with South Dakota officials to resolve the dispute in a diplomatic way. “At the end of the day, the city still needs that information from the state of South Dakota just to carry out law enforcement activities,” according to Vondrak.
Vondrak says the city will not stop issuing tickets to drivers who are speeding. “If you drive into Sioux City and you are captured by one of our cameras, the city has means and has the authority to continue to send citations to all states — including the state of South Dakota. Obviously, South Dakota has made it more difficult to retrieve that information,” Vondrak says.
So far there has been no further communication between the two sides in this traffic war between the states. The city council lowered the speed camera fines last month to $100 from $168 for driving 11 miles-an-hour above the speed limit. If an actual officer pulls you over, the fine would be $168 and the ticket would go on your permanent record and possibly result in your car insurance rate going up.
(Reporting by Woody Gottburg, KSCJ, Sioux City)