Audit sparked by FOX 5 I-Team investigation finds city issued 1,200 false speeding tickets

JONESBORO, Ga. - Some unexpected Christmas cash is headed to hundreds of commuters who have passed through Clayton County over the past two years, thanks to a FOX 5 I-Team investigation that identified a glitch in automated speed cameras.

In November, the Jonesboro Police Department acknowledged mailing out hundreds of school zone speeding tickets that were based on the wrong speed limit.

The city says it conducted a full audit of its camera systems and found even more erroneously-issued citations.

In a written statement responding to the I-Team’s continuing questions, the police department said it found 1,244 citations that require a refund or dismissal. The statement did not say how many drivers that represent, as many people likely received more than one ticket.

A FOX 5 I-Team investigation found automated school zone speed cameras set up in Jonesboro issued hundreds of citations to drivers based on the wrong speed limit. (FOX 5)

Under Georgia law, drivers caught speeding on camera in school zones pay a $75 fine for the first violation and $125 for every violation after that.

The city said it will be refunding a total of $76,400.

FOX 5’s investigation started with Alleice Woodhouse, who told the I-Team she didn’t deserve the two speeding tickets she received back-to-back last spring, accusing her of speeding outside Suder Elementary School.

She tried to beat the tickets in Jonesboro Municipal Court, telling Chief Judge Charles Keith Wood that the lights on school zone signs don't blink when she passes the school around 8:30 a.m. during her morning commute. 

In a recording of the hearing held remotely, Judge Wood asked a court worker if they had documents showing the lights are proper and the speeds are calibrated correctly. When the worker replied yes, the judge found Woodhouse liable and ordered her to pay for both tickets.

"After my court hearing, I knew that I needed someone to help me get to the bottom of this situation," Woodhouse told the FOX 5 I-Team. "So that’s when I called you."

On Lake Jodeco Road near Suder Elementary School, signs say the speed limit is 25 miles per hour when the lights are flashing, and 35 miles per hour when they aren't. (FOX 5)

Her call sparked an investigation that would reveal something alarming: The automatic speed cameras popping up outside schools all across Georgia are capable of massive mistakes.

The I-Team examined Woodhouse’s citations, as well as more than 17,000 others from calendar year 2023. FOX 5 also obtained a flasher schedule from the Clayton County Transportation and Development department, showing Woodhouse was correct when she said the lights outside Suder Elementary don’t blink at 8:30 a.m. on school days. Rather, they're supposed to stop blinking at 8 a.m.

The I-Team found Jonesboro had issued 456 false speeding tickets since January. The problem: the automatic cameras had ticketed drivers outside Suder Elemetary and Perry Learning Center based on a 25-mile-per hour speed limit, during times when lights on 25-mile-per-hour speed limit signs weren’t scheduled to be flashing.

The Jonesboro Police Department contracted with RedSpeed to set up automated speed cameras outside two elementary schools and one alternative school. (FOX 5)

When the camera lights aren’t flashing, the posted limit in those areas is 35 miles per hour. By law, a driver has to be going at least 11 miles over the speed limit to be ticketed by a school zone camera. When she was ticketed, Woodhouse was barely topping 35.

In an interview last month, Jonesboro Police Chief Tommy Henderson pointed to a programming error, though he declined to say if his department or the camera contractor, RedSpeed, was responsible. But the way the system works, a Jonesboro officer is supposed to review and sign off on all citations.

In an interview last month, Jonesboro Police Chief Tommy Henderson tells the FOX 5 I-Team that periodic audits of the automated speed camera system will prevent drivers from receiving false citations. (FOX 5)

"Apparently, maybe there was a mistake that was made," Chief Henderson said. "We are human. We make mistakes."

The city went back further in the records, to the launch of the cameras during the 2022-23 school year, and found nearly triple the number of erroneous tickets that the FOX 5 I-Team found.

The police department also provided details of how its reimbursement plan will work:

• If you paid your ticket by check or money order, you’ll get a check back in the mail.
• If you paid by credit card, expect to see an automatic refund to your credit card account.
• The process is expected to take about 4 months to complete, meaning most drivers should have their surprise Christmas money by Easter.
• For anyone with questions, the city provided a phone number: 470-726-1610.

The police department said in the statement, "We understand the inconvenience this may have caused, and we sincerely appreciate everyone's patience and understanding as we work diligently with our vendor to make the necessary corrections."

Trial attorney Lester Tate says what happened in Jonesboro shows the entire system of automated speed cameras needs to be thrown out.

"What this does is it fundamentally deprives the person who is accused of going too fast through the school zone of being able to have their day in court, or at least have a meaningful day in court," Tate said. "And it does so with both a carrot and a stick. You know, ‘We’re not going to give you all these rights, but also, you’re not going to get any points for this. It’s only going to be 75 dollars.'"

The cameras were made legal in 2018 through a bill passed after the stroke of midnight on the final day of the state legislative session, reportedly with help from then-Speaker of the House David Ralston, whose son Matt Ralston was pushing the bill as a lobbyist for a speed camera company.

Trial attorney and former Georgia State Bar president Lester Tate said he believes setting fines relatively low was part of a strategy by the state legislature to discourage drivers from disputing citations issued by automated school speed zone camer

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There are efforts underway to adjust the law. State Rep. J. Collins, R-Villa Rica, has said he plans to reintroduce a bill next year that would clear up confusion by making signage more uniform and limiting tickets to times when school zone lights are flashing. There’s also a proposal to make it easier to fight tickets in court.

"The total incentive," Tate, the trial attorney, added, "is keep your mouth shut, pay your fine, and let us have your money."

Chief Henderson still defends the cameras, saying they keep students, school staff and drivers safe. He said the system just has to be monitored.

"We have looked at the program, looked at our settings, and we’re making sure that we check those," the chief said in November. "We’re going to run periodic audits on the system going forward, so we’re already making those corrections and making sure that we stay on top of it."