PHOENIX — Arizona’s attorney general has weighed in on a legal issue regarding photo radar and red light camera operation.

In an official legal opinion, state Attorney General Mark Brnovich stated third party contractors who operate photo radar and red light cameras must get a private investigator license or they cannot do business in Arizona.

KTAR Legal Analyst Monica Lindstrom said the opinion would require each employee in the company that operates those types of radar to obtain a license.

“Each one of their employees will have to be licensed as a private investigator in order to continue to do what they are currently doing,” she said. “If they fail to get licensed, then a municipality, the government, cannot use them because it would be a violation of Arizona law.”

The new legal opinion could lead to a lot of traffic tickets being challenged in court, Lindstrom said.

“This is helpful information for people who have recently received a photo radar ticket or a red light ticket because they could possibly use (the opinion) as a defense when they go to court to fight that ticket,” she said.

Historically, legal opinions issued by a state’s attorney general carry a lot of weight and respect in the judicial system — though it is not law.