GREG ABBOTT

June 23,2006

Mr. Michael 

### W. Behrens, P.E. Opinion No. GA-0440 Executive Director Texas Department of Transportation Re: Installation of cameras on state highway 125 East I Ith Street rights-of-way to enforce compliance with trafficAustin, Texas 78701 -2483 control signals (RQ-0427-GA)
Dear Mr. Behrens:
You ask whether the Texas Department of Transportation (the "department") has authority to place cameras on state highway rights-of-wayto enforce compliance with traffic-control signals.' You also ask whether the department may permit local authorities to install camera equipment on state highway rights-of-way for this purpose.
A "traffic-control signal" is "a manual, electric, or mechanical device that alternately directs traffic to stop and to proceed." TEX. TRANSP. CODE ANN.§ 541.304(3) (Vernon 1999). A vehicle operator must stop at a red light, see 

### id.

## 5 544.007(d) (Vernon Supp. 2005), and the failure to stop is a misdemeanor offense. See 

### id. 

## 5 542.301 (Vernon 1999). A photographic traffic monitoring systemtypically consists of a camera located upstream of an intersection regulated by a traffic-control signal. See CESAR QUIROGA, P.E., EDGAR 

### KRAUS, IDAVAN SCHALKWYK, AND JAMES BONNESON, P.E., RED LIGHT RUNNING-A POLICY REVIEW (Mar. 2003) (Texas Transportation Institute, TexasA&MUniversity Sy~tem)~ at 30-3 1. Apavement sensor is located just before the stop line. See 

### id. The camera becomes active after the signal turns red and photographs the license plate of a vehicle that runs the red light, thus making it possible to identify the vehicle owner. See 

### id. A second cameramay be located downstream ofthe intersection to photograph the vehicle's driver. See id. A photographic traffic monitoring system thus provides information that assists law enforcement officers and agencies to enforce traffic control laws.
You ask a general question about the department's authority to place cameras on state highway rights-of-way to enforce compliance with traffic-control signals and do not inquire about aparticular enforcement plan. SeeRequest Letter,supranote 1,at I. Accordingly,we address your question in general terms.

'Letter from Mr. Michael W. Behrens, P.E., Executive Director, Texas Department of Transportation, to Honorable Greg Abbott, Attorney General ofTexas (Dec.20,2005) (on filewiththe Opinion Committee,also available at http:l/www.oag.state.tx.us) [hereinafter Request Letter]. 'Available at http:/limr.tamu.edu/projects/RLWPublications.htm (last visited June 23, 2006).Mr. Michael 

### W. Behrens, P.E. 

### - Page 2 (GA-0440)

The department is governedby the Texas Transportation Commission (the "commission"). 

### See TEX. TRANSP. CODE ANN.

### 8 201.201 (Vernon 1999). The legislature has vested authorityin the commission to provide for a state highway system. 

### See id. 

## $5 20 1.10 1, .103, .I04 (Vernon 1999 & Supp. 2005). The commission "shall plan and make policies for the location, construction, and maintenance of a comprehensive system of state highways and public roads" and "shall designate as part of the state highway system a highway that it determines is necessary for the proper development and operation of the system." 

### Id. 

## 5 201.103(a)-(b) (Vernon Supp. 2005). The commission may "lay out, construct, maintain, and operate a modern state highway system" in order to "promote public safety, facilitate the movement of traffic, preserve the public's financial investment in highways, [and] promote the national defense." 

### Id. 

## 5 203.002(a)(l) (Vernon 1999).
Pursuant to the commission's broad authority overthe state highway system,the department may install cameras on state highway rights-of-way to assist in promoting public safety, facilitating the movement of traffic, and otherwise implementing its powers and duties with respect to state highways. The department, in cooperation with certain cities, has already installed photographic equipment on highway rights-of-way and elsewhere in the cities as part of an "Intelligent Traffic System" designed to provide motorists with information about travel times, to permit quicker response times for emergency personnel, and otherwise to manage traffic.' The departmentmay also install cameras on state highway rights-of-way to monitor compliance with traffic-control signals, thus assisting law enforcement officers and entities to enforce traffic laws and to provide for the public safety on state highways.
You also ask whether the department may permit local authorities to install camera equipment on state highway rights-of-way to enforce compliance with traffic-control signals. A "local authority," which includes a county, a municipality, and any other local entity authorized to enact traffic laws under the laws of this state, "may not place or maintain a traffic-control device on a highway under the jurisdiction of the Texas Department of Transportation without that department's permission." 

### Id. 

## 5 544.002(c); 

### see id. 

## 5 541.002(3)(A) (defining "local authority"). Transportation Code section 221.002 provides that the commission and a municipal governing body may agreeto: "(1) provide for the



### . ..control, supervision, and regulation of a designated state highway in the municipality; and (2) establish the respective liabilities and responsibilities of the commission and the municipality under the agreement." 

### Id. 

## 5 221.002. The department has moreover adopted a rule stating the circumstances when the department "may install, maintain, and operate traffic signals on the state highway system" in unincorporated areas and in incorporated cities. 

### See43 TEX. ADMIN.CODE 

## 5 25.5 (2006) (Tex. Dep't of Transp., Installation, Operation, and Maintenance of Traffic Signals). The department has statutory authority to permit local authorities to install traffic-control signals on state highway rights-of-way. Pursuant to this authority, it may permit local entities to install camera equipment to monitor compliance with traffic-control signals for the purpose of enforcing traffic laws.

3SeeTraffic Management Systems (ITS) for Amarillo, at http:l/amaits.dot.state.tx.us/; Dallas, Fort Worth, at http://dfwtraffic.dot.state.tx.us/;ElPaso, athttp://www.transvista.dot.state.tx.us/; Houston, athttp://www.houstontranstar .org/; and San Antonio, at http://www.transguide.dot.state.tx.us/ (last visited June 23,2006).

### Mr. Michael 

### W. Behrens, P.E. 

### - Page 3 

### (GA-0440)

SUMMARY The Texas Department of Transportationmay install cameras on state highway rights-of-way to monitor compliance with trafficcontrol signals for the purpose of enforcing traffic laws on state highways. The departmentmay also permit local authorities to install camera equipment in connection with traffic-control signals on state highway rights-of-way for the same purpose.

~ttow~eneral of Texas

KENT C. SULLIVAN First Assistant Attorney General
ELLEN L. WITT Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel
NANCY S. FULLER Chair, Opinion Committee
Susan L. Garrison Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee