RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) – Virginia’s new state budget includes a provision to stop the large number of speeding tickets some cities and counties are issuing to drivers.
The provision says if the amount of money a city or county collects from speeding tickets exceeds 40 percent of its total revenue, the state will and take half of that money. It will then be put into Virginia’s literary fund. That fund helps pay for school construction and teacher retirement.
“That will allow, for example, the Hopewell Sheriff’s department to continue upholding the law and continue to collect what we believe is the appropriate amount of revenue,” said Martha Meade with AAA Mid-Atlantic.
The Hopewell Sheriff’s Department has been criticized recently for the number of tickets it writes on the so-called “million dollar mile,” a one mile stretch of Interstate 295 that runs through Hopewell.
CBS 6 News asked Hopewell Sheriff Greg Anderson what he thinks of the developments. He believes his agency is being unfairly targeted and said his deputies are only ticketing drivers who go in excess of 81 mph.
Sheriff Anderson said he plans to ask Governor Bob McDonnell to veto that amendment in the budget.
