HAMMOND | In an official opinion issued Friday, the office of Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter has found only the state can authorize the use of red light cameras.

The Hammond City Council in June gave the green light to the use of red light cameras to catch motorists running red lights.

At the time, it was unclear whether state legislation was needed for Hammond to move forward. Hammond was not alone in its interest in installing the cameras, but it was the first community to go so far as to enact an ordinance.

The ordinance would have imposed a $100 fine on offenders, and the violation would not have counted as points against their license. The city intended to treat the offense as an infraction like a parking ticket, not a moving violation.

On Friday, Carter said authorizing the use of red lights, whether on state, local or private roads, is up to the state, and Hammond's ordinance would contravene state law.

He also nixed the effort to treat the offense as an infraction and declared the offense a moving violation.

"It's the opinion of the attorney general's office that the red light cameras are not something that can be done by local units of government," Carter said in announcing the decision in a news conference Friday afternoon at the Merrillville Municipal Center.

"State government has moved into the area of regulating moving traffic violations. They have not specifically authorized local units to do that," he said. "So an ordinance, such as the one passed in Hammond that says red light cameras are to be used to catch moving violators, in our opinion, is not legal under Indiana law."

Carter discounted Hammond declaring the offense an infraction.

"Just calling something an infraction and calling it not a moving violation doesn't make it so," Carter said. "Obviously if a car is going to be caught moving by a camera, then that is likely going to be a moving violation so calling it something different doesn't make it so."

Generally parking relates to something immobile and not moving, he said.

Nor does the current state statute allowing the use of cameras on the Indiana Toll Road argue in favor of Hammond's stance, Carter said.

"The purpose (on the Toll Road) is to identify who has paid a toll or not paid a toll," he said. "It is not a moving violation."

The opinion does not address the constitutional issues that have been raised against the cameras. Carter said the question to his office was whether the cameras are valid under state law, which could be addressed without going into other issues.

Carter said a court could decide otherwise if his office's opinion is challenged, but official opinions from his office are taken seriously by the courts.

Hammond City Council President Dan Repay said Friday the council will continue to work on the effort.

"From my understanding, we were going to take it slow and continue to work with the Legislature to make it easier to allow (for use of the cameras)," he said.

Currently, since 2001, three separate efforts toward state legislation have failed.