The city of Hollywood violated state law by relying on a private company to issue red light camera citations, a state appeals court ruled Wednesday according to the Sun Sentinel. The ruling came in a case involving motorist Eric Arem, who received a citation from American Traffic Solutions Inc., the company that provides the cameras for Hollywood.

A county judge previously found the city improperly delegated its responsibilities to the private company and dismissed the citation. The three-judge appeals court panel agreed, saying state law doesn’t authorize a private company to issue citations. “Such outsourcing to a third-party…for red light cameras violations is contrary to the plain wording of the Florida statutes,” the ruling said.Officials with American Traffic Solutions, which provides most of the state’s red light cameras, said the ruling did not question the legality of the state law or the issuance of the notices. It focused only on the process “which, if necessary, can be adjusted to comply with today’s ruling,” said company spokesman Charles Territo. “We believe that all ATS programs and customers in Florida fully comply with both the letter and spirit of the law.””Red-light safety camera programs in Florida will continue,” he said.