The Hauppauge Traffic Violations Bureau adjudicates most traffic tickets issued in western Suffolk County. It is part of the larger Traffic Violations Bureau (“TVB”) that is run by the NYS Department of Motor Vehicles and also covers New York City, Rochester and Buffalo. To understand better how traffic tickets are resolved at the Traffic Violations Bureau, read “Fighting A Traffic Ticket At The Traffic Violations Bureau“.
Well, now, there’s a chance that this court will be dramatically changed. Specifically, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone recently announced that it would like to establish a county-run (rather than a state-run) traffic violations bureau. The rationale behind this change is that it will allow Suffolk County to keep as much as $13.2 million in additional revenues. Currently, New York State takes a large portion of the revenue generated by this court.
If Suffolk County were to “secede” from the NYS TVB system, one would expect many changes. We would expect new judges to be retained, a change in the location and possibly a change in how cases are handled. It will be interesting to see how this un-precedented change unfolds (if it comes to light).
In another revenue-raising move, Bellone also is seeking to have 50 more red light cameras installed through Suffolk. Ironically, given its plans to “succeed”, such a move would require New York State’s permission.
