State DOT wrongly issued thousands of traffic tickets, Iowa Supreme Court finds

Stephen Gruber-Miller | The Des Moines Register

Show Caption Hide Caption Iowa teen challenges Iowa DOT traffic ticket Peyton Atzen, 16, was ticketed by an Iowa Department of Transportation officer in May. He and his parents filed a lawsuit, claiming the state agency doesn't have the authority to issue such tickets.

The Iowa Department of Transportation issued thousands of speeding tickets to drivers even though it lacked the authority to do so before a legislative fix was adopted last year, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday.

The court ruled unanimously that the law before 2017 gave DOT motor vehicle enforcement officers the power to issue citations only for registration, size, weight load and operating authority violations — not for other traffic offenses like speeding.

The plaintiffs alleged the DOT improperly issued more than 12,840 citations between 2014 and 2016 that fell outside its legal authority.

"We are disappointed in the result of this decision. Public safety is best served when trained peace officers are able to respond to dangerous traffic events that occur in their presence," DOT spokeswoman Andrea Henry said in a statement.

Brandon Brown, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, said the court's ruling could clear the way for him to continue pursuing a class-action case aimed at refunding the fines paid by drivers who were improperly ticketed by DOT officers. That case has been on hold.

"We’re pleased that the Supreme Court has finally brought the issue to a close," Brown said. "Our next step is to move to lift the stay on our civil case and proceed with litigation."

Henry said in an interview that the class action case presents different claims, but that the department "will be vigorously defending" itself in that matter.

Friday's ruling concerned two drivers, Rickie Rilea and Timothy Riley, who in 2016 were stopped and cited by DOT officers on Interstate Highway 35 in Warren County for speeding in a construction zone.

In another case decided Friday, the court reversed the conviction of Jeremy Werner, who was stopped by a DOT officer for speeding in Iowa County in 2016 and jailed and convicted of driving with a revoked license.

After the plaintiffs raised concerns about the DOT's authority, the Iowa Legislature amended the law on May 11, 2017, to allow the DOT to temporarily designate employees as peace officers with the authority to enforce all state laws, including traffic offenses.

That authority was originally intended to last until July 1, 2018, but this year the Legislature extended the law for another year.

Henry said the DOT will be working with the Iowa Legislature in the upcoming legislative session to extend that authority further.

Justice Edward Mansfield wrote in the court's unanimous opinion that the DOT also wrongly relied on a different Iowa Code section that covers citizen arrests.

That law does not apply because Iowa DOT employees are state agents and not private citizens, and because the law covers citizen arrests, not citations in lieu of an arrest, Mansfield wrote.

However, if properly trained, DOT officers can still make arrests for driving while intoxicated, the court ruled. That crime is governed by a different law.