The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled in favor of cities and their use of traffic cameras.

Cedar Rapids, Des Moines and Muscatine argued the DOT does not have the right to make rules that forced them to move or take down traffic cameras. The Supreme Court ruling agrees –saying while the Iowa Legislature gives the agency specific authority in other areas — traffic cameras are not included.

The DOT had argued the camera rules fall under their authority to remove “obstructions” from highway right-of-ways. But the Supreme Court says that’s a stretch because the cameras are on poles over the highway and the DOT was okay with cameras just being shut down and not removed.

The ruling says under the DOT argument, if the cities decided to station numerous patrol cars on Interstates 380 and 235 to catch and ticket speeders, the DOT could not issue a rule banning the practice on the grounds that it has “jurisdiction and control” over the highways.

The Supreme Court says when the legislature has given an agency general rulemaking authority but has also granted specific authority in particular areas, the agency cannot then extend the specific grants beyond their scope. It cited an earlier case where the court ruled that the DNR had the authority to quarantine a deer with CWD, but did not have the authority to quarantine the land where the infected deer was discovered, because the DNR was not given that specific authority.

The ruling says the ban on the use of drones for traffic enforcement passed in 2014 shows the legislature has the ability to enact rules for new types of traffic enforcement, but says lawmakers have not taken the step for traffic cameras.

Here’s the full ruling: Traffic-Camera-ruling-PDF