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New bill might cut down on traffic tickets

February 22, 2006
By: Josh Kranzberg
State Capital Bureau

One Missouri lawmaker is trying to get police in small towns to cut down on their tickets. Josh Kranzberg has more from the Capitol.

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Republican Senator John Cauthorn wants to reduce the amount of revenue generated by traffic tickets in smaller towns from 45 percent to 35 percent. He says police in towns like Eolia and Curryville are pulling people over just to increase the town's revenue.

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Contents: "When we have small communities that actually use that for revenue enhancement, I think it's a great sign of distress. It shows disrespect for the citizens, it shows disrespect for other law enforcement, for the county sheriff, for the highway patrol."

Cauthorn's bill states anything more than that percentage would be sent to the Department of Revenue. If the towns fail to send the excess revenue to the department, they would face an audit by the State Auditor. From Jefferson City, I'm Josh Kranzberg.

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A state senator wants to cut down on your chances of being pulled over for speeding. Josh Kranzberg has more from the state Capitol.

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Towns like Auxvasse and Eolia use money from traffic tickets to help fund their city. Republican Senator John Cauthorn proposed a bill limiting the amount of money the towns budgets receive from traffic tickets. It would reduce the percentage from 45 percent to 35 percent. He says this bill is in response to police who are out of control with writing tickets.

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Contents: "In this little village in Southern Pike County, they wrote 61 tickets in two days, and they have about a half a mile on highway 61. People are getting pretty upset."

Under Cauthorn's bill, a town that does not report and send in money over the percentage is prone to a state audit. From Jefferson City, I'm Josh Kranzberg.