Dallas, TX Mobility & Curb Rules: Red-Light Cameras (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing law
- Tex. Transp. Code § 707.020 (HB 1631, 2019)
- Effective date
- June 2, 2019
- Enforcing authority
- Texas Attorney General, not Dallas PD
- Prior Dallas program
- Ran 2007-2019, roughly $2-3.5M/year revenue
- Evidence rule
- Camera images cannot support a citation (§707.021)
Summary
Dallas cannot operate red-light cameras. Texas Transportation Code Section 707.020 bars any local authority, including the City of Dallas, from implementing or operating a photographic traffic signal enforcement system on any street under its jurisdiction. The 2019 law, House Bill 1631, ended the red-light camera program the city ran from 2007 to 2019 and bars the city council from reviving it.
Sec. 707.020. PHOTOGRAPHIC TRAFFIC SIGNAL ENFORCEMENT SYSTEM PROHIBITED. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, a local authority may not implement or operate a photographic traffic signal enforcement system with respect to a highway or street under the jurisdiction of the authority. (b) The attorney general shall enforce this section.
Sec. 707.021. USE OF EVIDENCE FROM PHOTOGRAPHIC TRAFFIC SIGNAL ENFORCEMENT SYSTEM PROHIBITED. Notwithstanding any other law, a local authority may not issue a civil or criminal charge or citation for an offense or violation based on a recorded image produced by a photographic traffic signal enforcement system.
Full Breakdown
Chapter 707 of the Texas Transportation Code, added by House Bill 1631 in 2019, flatly bars every local authority, county, and home-rule city like Dallas from running a photographic traffic signal enforcement system on any street it controls. 020(a) applies 'notwithstanding any other law,' which overrides any surviving city ordinance that once authorized the cameras. 5 million a year for the city before HB 1631 forced it offline by June 2, 2019. 021 goes further than banning the hardware: it bars Dallas from issuing any civil or criminal citation based on a recorded image from a photographic traffic signal enforcement system, so even if an image of a Dallas intersection existed, the city could not use it to prosecute a driver.
001(3) defines a 'photographic traffic signal enforcement system' as a camera and vehicle-sensor combination that works exclusively with an electrically operated traffic-control signal and produces at least two recorded images of a vehicle's license plate; that definition does not reach ordinary traffic-flow monitoring cameras or privately owned parking-lot or doorbell cameras. 020(b) assigns enforcement to the Texas Attorney General, not the Dallas Police Department or Dallas Municipal Court, so a complaint about a camera still operating anywhere in the city is a state, not municipal, matter.
Violations & Fines
There is no local violation to charge because Dallas cannot lawfully run red-light cameras at all. Any camera-based red-light citation mailed to a Dallas driver carries no legal force under Section 707.021, and Dallas Municipal Court cannot adjudicate it. A local authority that violates Section 707.020 faces action from the Texas Attorney General's office, not a Dallas-level fine or code penalty; the statute assigns no separate criminal penalty to the city itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Dallas still run red-light cameras?
Can Dallas fine me for a red-light violation caught on an old camera image?
Who enforces the statewide camera ban against Dallas?
Could the Dallas City Council bring red-light cameras back?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Dallas
Texas rules heatmap·Compare Dallas to another location·View the Texas mobility & curb rules overview
See something wrong?
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.
Red-Light Cameras in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Dallas County handle red-light cameras.