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 I th 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-way to 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. 5 542.30 1 (Vernon 1999). 

A photographic traffic monitoring system typically consists of a camera located upstream of 

an intersection regulated by a traffic-control signal. See CESAR QUIROGA, P.E., EDGAR KRAUS, 

IDA VAN SCHALKWYK, AND JAMES BONNESON, P.E., RED LIGHT RUNNING-A POLICY REVIEW 

(Mar. 2003) (Texas Transportation Institute, Texas A&M University 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 camera may be located downstream of the 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 

a particular enforcement plan. See Request Letter, supra note 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 of Texas (Dec. 20,2005) (on file with the 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 governed by the Texas Transportation Commission (the "commission"). 

See TEX. TRANSP. CODE ANN. 8 201.201 (Vernon 1999). The legislature has vested authority in 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 over the 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 department may 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 agree to: "(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. See 43 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. 

3See Traffic Management Systems (ITS) for Amarillo, at http:l/amaits.dot.state.tx.us/; Dallas, Fort Worth, at 

http://dfwtraffic.dot.state.tx.us/; El Paso, 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 Transportation may 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 department may 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