Another county judge has found Clive, Iowa's red light camera program illegal under state law. Polk County Magistrate Jeffrey Lipman ruled Monday that Clive's ordinance conflicts with state law by turning red light running into a civil, instead of a criminal, offense. Clive also set tickets at $75, instead of the $35 maximum set down by state lawmakers.

Less than two weeks ago, a Dallas County judge found that Clive violated state laws governing the proper format for traffic violation notices. Judges in Davenport forced that city to shut down camera ticketing earlier this year. In January (view ruling) and in December 2006 (view ruling) judges found Davenport's red light camera fines conflicted with state law defining red light running as a criminal, not civil, violation.

Clive refuses to refund money illegally collected, and will appeal the decision. In Minnesota, the same legal argument was upheld by the second highest court in the state (view ruling). Clive has not decided whether to suspend the program in light of the two rulings.

Since July 28, Clive has issued 3162 tickets worth $237,150.