OKLAHOMA CITY – The Senate has passed a measure that would prohibit law enforcement entities from requiring officers, justices or judges to meet traffic citation quotas.
Authored by Sen. Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow, Senate Bill 1264 would prohibit any political subdivision or agency of the state to maintain, require or suggest that employee evaluations, promotions, compensation or discipline may be based on issuing a certain number of traffic citations by law enforcement officers, or by the collection of a specified amount of revenue by a court justice or judge.
“It’s an unspoken rule that some jurisdictions may emphasize issuing citations at different times to generate more revenue,” Dahm said. “Our law enforcement officers, justices and judges should not be pressured by their employers to write additional tickets or collect revenue to keep their jobs.”
The measure does not prohibit municipalities from obtaining budgetary information from the courts, including estimates of court collections in a budget year.
“Our law enforcement officers should be focused on protecting our citizens,” Dahm said. “By removing their attention from writing petty traffic citations, our officers will have the ability to better serve and protect our communities.”
The measure is now available for consideration by the House of Representatives. Rep. Justin Humphrey, R-Lane, is the House principal author.
