Measure to ban ticket quotas passes House

A bill to ban traffic ticket quotas narrowly passed through the House on Monday.

HB264 was approved by a 39-31 vote and now moves to the Senate.

Law enforcement officials claim ticket quotas don't exist. But former officers have spoken out, saying the quotas are mandated in order to keep their jobs. Even Rep. Carl Wimmer, R-Herriman, a former police officer, admitted he didn't get a promotion when he refused to write three tickets per day. Nevertheless, HB264 would prohibit police agencies from telling their officers to write a set number of tickets.

"Why are we letting the administration determine whether a person should have to write a ticket or not," said Rep. Neil Hansen, D-Ogden, the bill's sponsor. "Let's give the authority back to the officers to have the discretion to determine whether a ticket should be written or not."

Hansen even had his daughter testify at a committee meeting last week in favor of the bill.