Edwards v. City of Tomball

343 S.W.3d 213, 2011 WL 1643591
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 28, 2011
Docket14-10-00284-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 343 S.W.3d 213 (Edwards v. City of Tomball) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Edwards v. City of Tomball, 343 S.W.3d 213, 2011 WL 1643591 (Tex. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinions

MAJORITY OPINION

JOHN S. ANDERSON, Justice.

Appellant, Lady Edwards, filed this interlocutory appeal from the trial court’s granting of the Second Plea to the Jurisdiction filed by appellee, the City of Tom-ball (“Tomball”). Finding no error, we affirm.

Factual and PROCEDURAL Background

In Chapter 707 of the Texas Transportation Code, the Texas Legislature authorized municipalities to impose civil fines on owners of vehicles that have been photographed driving through a red light at designated intersections. See Tex. Transp. Code Ann. § 707.001 et seq. (West Supp. 2009). Pursuant to that statutory authority, Tomball enacted Tomball Ordinance No. 2007-08, its so-called Red Light Camera Ordinance.1

According to the Red Light Camera Ordinance, the owner of a motor vehicle that runs a steady red light is liable to Tomball for a civil penalty of $75.00. The ordinance provides that in order to impose the civil penalty, the Tomball Police Department must provide prompt, detailed notice of the violation to the vehicle owner. The ordinance requires, among other things, notice adequate to inform the vehicle owner of the details of the violation, a copy of a photograph taken of the violation, the amount of the civil penalty, the due date [217]*217for payment, and information regarding the owner’s right to contest the imposition of the civil penalty in an administrative adjudication. The Tomball ordinance further provides that the notice of violation advise the owner that a request for the administrative hearing must be made in writing within a specified time period, and that failure to pay the penalty timely or otherwise request an administrative hearing would constitute a conclusive admission of liability and waiver of the owner’s right to appeal to Tomball municipal court. The ordinance also requires notice adequate to inform the owner that the failure to pay the fine would not result in his or her arrest. The ordinance further provides that the administrative hearing must be held by an administrative hearing officer appointed by the city manager. The ordinance also requires that at the conclusion of the hearing, the hearing officer must make a written finding of “liable” or “not liable.” Finally, the ordinance provides for a right of de novo appeal from the result of the administrative hearing to the Tomball municipal court.

Chapter 707 of the Transportation Code authorizes local governments, by ordinance, to impose civil fines on owners of vehicles that have been photographed driving through a red light. Tex. Transp. Code Ann. § 707.002. Section 707.011 provides that a notice of violation “must” contain certain items of information, all of which are consistent with the same notice requirements found in the Tomball Red Light Camera Ordinance. Id. at § 707.011. In addition, section 707.003(c) provides that before installing a photographic traffic signal enforcement system at an intersection, the local government “shall conduct a traffic engineering study of the approach to determine whether, in addition to or as an alternative to the system, a design change to the approach or a change in the signalization of the intersection is likely to reduce the number of red light violations at the intersection.” Id. at § 707.003(c). If section 707.003(c) is violated, a penalty pursuant to Chapter 707 may not be imposed. Id. at § 707.003(f).

Like the Tomball Red Light Camera Ordinance, Chapter 707 provides for an administrative adjudication hearing if the owner of the vehicle challenges the imposition of the civil penalty and a de novo appeal to either the appropriate municipal or justice court. Id. at §§ 707.014, 707.016. Under section 707.014(h), if a person is found liable for violating a red light camera ordinance, the finding of liability “must specify the amount of the civil penalty for which the person is liable.” Id. at § 707.014(h). As is true under the Tomball Red Light Camera Ordinance, the owner’s failure to either pay the civil penalty or to timely contest liability constitutes a conclusive admission of liability and waives the owner’s right to appeal to municipal court. Id. at § 707.012. Chapter 707 also provides that if a person who has been found liable for violating a red light camera ordinance of a municipality decides to appeal that determination, she must appeal to the municipal court of that municipality. Id. at § 707.016(a)(2). In defining the powers of municipal courts, the Government Code provides that “a municipal court, including a municipal court of record, shall have exclusive appellate jurisdiction within the municipality’s territorial limits in a case arising under Chapter 707, Transportation Code.” Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. § 29.003(g) (West Supp. 2009).

Appellant has received numerous notices of violations of the Tomball Red Light Camera Ordinance; however, only four are at issue in this appeal. The relevant notices alleged that appellant’s vehicle was photographed running a red light within the Tomball city limits on the following [218]*218dates: (1) August 28, 2008 (violation TBR 08008959A); (2) October 31, 2008 (violation TBR 08011211); (3) November 28, 2008 (violation TBR 08011994); and (4) March 19, 2009 (violation TBR 09002547).

Only the notices of violation for violations TBR 08011994 and TBR 09002547 appear in the appellate record. However, in her Third Amended Petition in Intervention, appellant avers that the notices for all of the relevant violations, including TBR 08008959A and 08011211, are identical.

The notices factually describe the violation, cite the city ordinance violated, and identify the date and time of the violation, the owner of the vehicle, and the registration number of the vehicle’s license plate. The notices also contain a photograph taken of the offending vehicle and state that the recorded images “do constitute evidence of a violation of the Ordinance # 2007-08.” The notices recite the amount of the potential civil penalty. The notices advise appellant of the following: (1) her right to contest the charges in an administrative hearing; (2) the deadline to either pay the civil penalty if she elects not to contest liability or to request a hearing; (3) failure to pay the fíne or to contest liability in a timely manner would constitute “an admission of liability and waiver of your right to contest the imposition of the civil penalty;” (4) failure to respond to the notice would result in the imposition of an additional $25.00 late payment penalty; (5) failure to pay the civil penalty may result in her being reported to a collection agency and the county assessor-collector, or the Texas Department of Transportation, who may refuse to register the vehicle alleged to have been involved in the violation; (6) if found liable at the administrative hearing or if she failed to appear at the hearing, she would be required to pay an additional $25.00 administrative fee; (7) failure to appear at the hearing after requesting one would result in her being found liable; (8) the method to calculate the date the payment would be due if she was found liable at the administrative hearing; and (9) that “[n]o record of this violation will be sent to your insurance company or to the Department of Public Safety Division of Motor Vehicles.”

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Edwards v. City of Tomball
343 S.W.3d 213 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2011)

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Bluebook (online)
343 S.W.3d 213, 2011 WL 1643591, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/edwards-v-city-of-tomball-texapp-2011.