A local law firm has dropped its lawsuit against the city of Dayton’s red-light and speed camera system.

In a document filed in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court last Friday, attorneys dismissed the lawsuit against Dayton and camera operator RedFlex “without prejudice,” which means the lawsuit can be re-filed within a year.

Dayton attorney Mike Dyer, who represented three Dayton residents who sued the city last May, said he dismissed the case pending the outcome of a similar lawsuit in Toledo. That case is currently being reviewed by an appellate court after a Lucas County Common Pleas judge dismissed it last February.

The lawsuit sought an end to the automated ticketing system, and was filed about a month after Dayton began enforcing a policy to tow drivers with two or more unpaid camera-generated citations. A few weeks after the lawsuit was filed, the Dayton city commission voted to relax its towing criteria, increasing the towing minimum to three unpaid citations, and agreeing to take people owing $250 or more off the tow list if they agreed to enroll in a payment plan.

“I think the case still has merit and I think quite honestly (whether) the courts side with the city or not, what the city is doing is wrong … it really is,” Dyer said.

A call left with city spokesman Tom Biedenharn was not returned. City attorneys argued in court filings that the cameras are legal.

Automated red-light and speeding cameras like Dayton’s have withstood numerous legal challenges in Ohio, including a ruling from the Ohio Supreme Court in 2008.

The tickets issued by the cameras are different from traditional tickets in that they are civil violations, not criminal citations. Instead of going to court, tickets from cameras go through a separate administrative process.