BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – A legal opinion handed down by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton this week makes it clear that Bexar County Constable Mark Vojvodich and his deputies can no longer use a portable camera system to issue speeding tickets.
Vojvodich first showed the LIDAR scanning system to KSAT 12 News in January 2025.
Stories that aired on television and were posted on social media stirred up a lot of controversy.
At least one state lawmaker, Rep. Briscoe Cain (R-Baytown), and Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales both expressed concerns about the use of the system, which captures photos of drivers and their infractions.
Vojvodich said that after a human review of the information captured by the cameras, tickets would then be sent out.
The drivers, however, may not have been aware until the tickets arrived in the mail, as there was often no interaction with any deputies.
“We returned that equipment months and months ago,” Vojvodich said Friday. “We only had it for a trial period, so we sent that equipment back to the manufacturer.”
Vojvodich said after Paxton was asked to weigh in on the use of the camera system, he opted not to continue using it. He said no taxpayer money was spent on the equipment.
The request for Paxton’s input came from Gonzales last February.
On Monday, Paxton answered, writing that “a constable lacks authority to employ an automated traffic-enforcement system to issue speeding citations by mail.”
Vojvodich says that while he disagrees with the opinion, he plans to honor it.
“It still leaves us with the problem of how do we get people to comply,” he said. “My concerns are still the same. We had 215 fatalities in Bexar County in 2024, which is the last full data we have.”
Speeding and following too closely, Vojvodich said, are two major causes of traffic crashes and fatalities.
Although he may no longer be able to use the LIDAR system, the constable is confident that something new will be developed down the line that will both help address the speeding problem and comply with state law.
“That’ll be something the manufacturers will have to do, and they’ll probably have to get with the legislature to see about getting it where it can be used in Texas,” he said.
Until then, Vojvodich said his deputies will continue to protect and serve the public in the way they always have.