CINCINNATI – Drivers who got speeding camera tickets in a Cincinnati-area village are entitled to nearly $1.8 million in refunds, pending the village’s appeal of class action status, a southwest Ohio judge ruled Thursday.
Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Robert Ruehlman, who last March ordered Elmwood Place to stop using the cameras and called them “a scam,” repeated that the village’s camera system violated Ohio’s constitution and rules on judicial process and public notice.
He said besides refunds of the $105 citations and other motorists’ costs, which total at least $1.76 million, the village is liable for the plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees, because “Elmwood Place acted in bad faith in implementing the ordinance.” He said he wouldn’t make his order final until the class action appeal is resolved.
Attorney Mike Allen, who filed the lawsuit in late 2012, said there was no estimate yet on what attorneys’ fees might total. He added that the plaintiffs would be willing to discuss a “very reasonable” settlement to expedite the case rather than see appeals go on for months more.
“I think Elmwood Place should stop spending money on attorneys,” Allen said. “We’d like to put some money back in these people’s pockets.”