LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill — saying he's "tired of picking people up off the grounds of our streets" — announced he will push the Nevada Legislature to repeal a decades-old ban on red-light cameras in the state.
McMahill's remarks came at an annual update about the police department that covered crime statistics and officer well-being. However, the sheriff highlighted the need for more traffic enforcement to stop speeders and red-light runners who cause accidents.
"Red-light cameras are something I'm fighting for regardless of which party you come from because I am sick and tired of picking people up off the grounds of our streets because of the bad, irresponsible driving behavior or people in our community," McMahill said. "It's time to change the game around that."
Red-light cameras were banned in Nevada during the 1999 legislative session, under a bill sponsored by then-state Sen, Mark James, R-Clark County. James argued that automated cameras should not be used for traffic enforcement, civil liberties, and privacy grounds, based on the objections of some police officers.
The bill passed with bipartisan majorities in both houses that year and was signed into law by then-Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn.
There have been at least five attempts to repeal the ban in the 25 years since it was adopted, none successful. Some legislation sought to authorize a pilot program. In 2023, a bill sought to allow cameras for enforcement in school zones.
None of the repeal efforts have been successful.
However, the idea has some high-profile support, including from Gov. Joe Lombardo.
In January, Lombardo, a former Clark County sheriff himself, told Channel 13 that he backs the idea of red-light cameras.
WATCH: Gov. Lombardo said he supports red light cameras to catch violators in Nevada
"In today's age, with the ability to use technology and its being a civil process versus a criminal process, I would support red lights and the enforcement of that," Lombardo said.
In 2021, a Nevada law made most traffic offenses subject to a civil fine rather than criminal misdemeanors. McMahill, in his remarks on Tuesday, called that change a failed experiment that has resulted in people not being held accountable for bad driving behavior.
But even with high-profile support from McMahill and Lombardo, there's no guarantee that the Legislature will approve red-light cameras.
In a pre-session interview, Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager, D-Clark County, said he got plenty of messages against using cameras to monitor traffic when the issue came up previously.
"The last time that proposal came up, I probably got more emails to my inbox from people who said 'no way, no how, over my dead body, we don't think this is fair, this is Big Brother,'" Yeager said.
I think those concerns are still there. I mean, we live in a very libertarian state where, you know, a lot of people just don't like that idea.
"But at the same time, I think the data shows that it works," Yeager added. "It does crack down on people driving too fast, on people running red lights. So it's a conversation I'm interested in having."
Notably, both Yeager and Lombardo said they wanted to see the details of the red light camera proposal.
Both wanted to know where the money raised by fines associated with tickets issued by the cameras would go: to the police agency, a local government, the courts, or to the company that contracted to install and operate the cameras. Or a combination of them?
In addition, they wanted to know how tickets would be directed to the person who was actually driving the car at the time of the violation; when cameras take a photo of a red-light runner, the ticket is sent to the vehicle's registered owner based on the license plate. But that might not be the person who was actually driving the car when the violation occurred.
Thus far, a bill has not been introduced in Carson City, but sources tell Channel 13 that one will drop soon in the state Senate.
