§ 56-7-35 — Uniform traffic ticket for speeding or disregarding traffic control device; incident to and contemporaneous with traffic stop; delivery; use of photographic evidence; exception for toll collection violation.

(A)(1) A law enforcement officer who issues a uniform traffic ticket for a violation of a local ordinance or traffic laws relating to speeding must do so incident to and contemporaneous with a traffic stop. (2) A copy of the citation must be given directly to the offender by the law enforcement officer issuing the citation at the time of the traffic stop for the offense. (3) A law enforcement agency may not utilize the United States mail, a parcel delivery service, electronic means, or otherwise to send to the operator or owner of a motor vehicle or motorcycle, as defined in Section 56-3-20, a uniform traffic citation alleging a violation of a local ordinance or the traffic laws relating to speeding. This subsection does not prohibit the law enforcement agency from sending the operator or owner an additional copy of a uniform citation that was issued to the operator or owner during the traffic stop for the offense upon request of the operator or owner. (4) A uniform traffic citation alleging the violation of a local ordinance or the traffic laws relating to speeding may not be issued based in whole or in part upon photographic evidence, whether gathered in conjunction with radar speed detection devices and whether the camera or other electronic device capturing the photographic evidence was attended or unattended at the time it captured the photographic evidence. This section does not prohibit the use of photographic or video evidence at any hearing related to the offense to corroborate the testimony of a law enforcement officer who personally observed the offense. (B)(1) A law enforcement officer who issues a uniform traffic ticket for a violation of a local ordinance or the traffic laws relating to disregarding a traffic control device must do so incident to and contemporaneous with a traffic stop. (2) A copy of the citation must be given directly to the offender by the law enforcement officer issuing the citation at the time of the traffic stop for the offense. (3) A law enforcement agency may not utilize the United States mail, a parcel delivery service, electronic means, or otherwise to send to the operator or owner of a motor vehicle or motorcycle, as defined in Section 56-3-20, a uniform traffic citation alleging a violation of a local ordinance or the traffic laws relating to disregarding traffic control devices. This subsection does not prohibit the law enforcement agency from sending the operator or owner an additional copy of a uniform citation that was issued to the operator or owner during the traffic stop for the offense upon request of the operator or owner. (4) A uniform traffic citation alleging the violation of a local ordinance or the traffic laws relating to disregarding traffic control devices may not be issued based in whole upon photographic evidence, whether the camera or other electronic device capturing the photographic evidence was attended or unattended at the time it captured the photographic evidence. This section does not prohibit the use of photographic or video evidence at any hearing related to the offense to corroborate the testimony of a law enforcement officer who personally observed the offense. (C) The provisions of this section do not apply to: (1) toll collection; or (2) issuance of a uniform traffic citation alleging the violation of Section 56-5-2770.

Legislative History

HISTORY: 2011 Act No. 65, SECTION 1, eff June 17, 2011; 2014 Act No. 274 (H.5014), SECTION 4, eff June 9, 2014.