By Scott Wyman February 21, 2011 09:00 AM

Red light cameras are not just proving nettlesome for Broward County’s cities, but also the court system.

All the cases in Broward had been assigned to County Judge Steven Deluca. But the number of cases is growing – up to about 50 a week.

Judge Robert Lee, who is in charge of the civil division of County Court, said he has now assigned a magistrate to hear the case. Defendants can still ask for a judge instead, and Lee said those cases would go to Deluca.

Lee said the problem is the amount of time that red-light cases consume. Normally, 80 traffic citation cases can be handled in two hours. However, because of the need to review video and photos, an average of 50 red-light cases can be heard in a two-hour docket.

Lee estimates that by July, the court system could be handling as many as 450 red-light cases a week. That will prompt further evaluation of how they’re handled, he said.

When the Legislature allowed traffic cameras to catch red-light runners, it divided the ticket money between the state and the local government but did not set any aside to deal with court costs.

Broward has been hard-pressed because cuts in state court funding in recent years led to a substantial reduction in the number of hearing officers it has.

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