TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 Hillsborough County has hired five paid hearing officers to oversee appeals of red-light and school zone speed camera citations, replacing volunteer special magistrates who had been serving as neutral decision-makers in those cases.<\/p>\n
The new hearing officers are all members of the Florida Bar in good standing. County officials said having attorneys hear the cases could help when appeals involve complex issues of state law.<\/p>\n
County documents estimate that the hearing officers will cost about $22,500 a year. They will be paid $250 for the first three hours of a hearing session and $100 for each additional hour, with pay capped at $500 per docket.<\/p>\n
The change marks a shift from the special magistrates, who had been volunteering their time.<\/p>\n
Thomas Santarlas, a Hillsborough County code enforcement special magistrate, has handled citation appeals since the program began.<\/p>\n
\u201cFlorida law is fairly simple when it comes to traffic law. Either you did it or you didn\u2019t do it,\u201d Santarlas said.<\/p>\n
Santarlas, though, likely won\u2019t oversee many more appeals after Hillsborough County decided to move away from special magistrates, like Santarlas, in favor of new hearing officers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s several jurisdictions around the state of Florida where the magistrates aren\u2019t members of the Florida Bar \u2014 they\u2019re members of the community, which makes it even more important that they\u2019re not in the justice system,\u201d Santarlas said. \u201cThey can be more impartial and look at things in a more even-toned way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spectrum Bay News 9 repeatedly asked Commission Chairman Ken Hagan for an interview about why commissioners approved the change. Hagan declined.<\/p>\n
The county instead made Veteran Community Services Director Frank Strom available. Strom manages the appeal hearings.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t answer why the Board of County Commissioners decided to do this,\u201d Strom said. \u201cI can only speculate that it was probably in the best interest of the citizens because a lot of these cases have a lot of legalities with them, and we want to make sure we\u2019re giving the citizens the best service we can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Strom confirmed that the previous magistrates were not paid and that the new hearing officers will be paid. When asked why the county is now paying hearing officers, Strom said, \u201cI don\u2019t know, you\u2019d have to ask our county attorneys about that.\u201d<\/p>\n
County attorneys cited \u201cthe recruitment and retention of qualified individuals\u201d as the reason the new hearing officers needed to be paid.<\/p>\n
The change follows months of our Watchdog reporting on Hillsborough County\u2019s school zone speed and red-light camera programs, including questions about how driver appeals are handled.<\/p>\n