CONWAY, Ark. (AP) A judge will review data regarding the types of traffic tickets written by police in north-central Arkansas that triggered speed-trap sanctions against the city.
The town of Damascus was found in violation of the state’s speed-trap laws last year and was ordered to cease patrol of all highways. City Attorney Beau Wilcox said at a Wednesday hearing that the sanction has hindered the city’s shrinking police force.
Damascus was found in violation of the state’s speed-trap statute because the city’s revenues from fines exceeded 30 percent of expenditures for each of the two previous years.
But Wilcox says that state investigators who reviewed Damascus’ traffic-related ticket data skewed results because they didn’t properly extract and separate traffic-related offenses when determining the revenue stream of the city’s police department.
An evidence hearing is expected to bet set in April.
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