St. Louis Red Light Camera Tickets Dismissed

All unpaid St. Louis City red light camera tickets will be dismissed, and the City will issue a refund if you paid a red light camera ticket fine within the past 18 months.

This is a result of yesterday’s Missouri Supreme Court ruling that St. Louis City’s red light camera ordinance created an unconstitutional presumption of guilt for a vehicle owner, meaning it improperly placed the burden on the vehicle owner to prove they were not driving the vehicle when the car was caught running a red light.

The Missouri Supreme Court did not rule on the legality of red light cameras, so cameras could be used in the future if St. Louis City revises its red light camera ordinance to comply with the law. This could involve adding more cameras to capture a photo of the driver’s face (in addition to a photo of the license plate) and enacting a new ordinance in which a red light camera ticket is considered a moving violation that adds points to your driving record.

According to a recent St. Louis Post-Dispatch article about the Missouri Supreme Court’s ruling in the St. Louis City red light camera court case, St. Louis City Mayor Francis Slay’s administration is “moving forward with an ordinance that will comply with the court’s rulings.”