Civic Accountability — Aurora, Colorado
Elevated Aurora is a community organization dedicated to government transparency and accountability in Aurora, Colorado. Our first initiative: exposing serious legal violations in the city's Automated Photo Speed Enforcement Program.
Who We Are
Elevated Aurora began when one Aurora resident received a photo speed enforcement citation and decided to read the law. What he found wasn't a technicality — it was a pattern of systematic non-compliance with Colorado statute that affects every single citation the program has issued.
Aurora voters rejected red-light camera surveillance in 2018. The city launched a speed camera pilot in 2022, lost over $535,000 of taxpayer money, cancelled it, and quietly relaunched it in November 2025 with a new private vendor — without ensuring the program complies with the law that governs it.
We believe government should play by the rules it writes. When it doesn't, residents deserve to know.
Aurora contracted this program to Verra Mobility, a for-profit corporation based in Mesa, Arizona. Under contract R-2440 — obtained through a CORA public records request — the program is projected to generate $2.68 million in net revenue for the city over five years, based on issuing 2,203 tickets per month.
The financial incentive is clear. What is equally clear, from Aurora's own records, is that the legal foundation required to collect those fines was never properly established.
We are not anti-safety. We are pro-accountability. If Aurora wants to enforce speed limits with automated cameras, it must do so lawfully.
The Issue
The following violations are established not by opinion, but by Aurora's own public records — the CORA responses, the city's deployment spreadsheet, the vendor contract, and the notice of violation itself.
Colorado law requires that recipients of photo speed citations be given a minimum of 45 days to respond. Aurora's notices give 30 days — 15 days fewer than the law requires. This is not an isolated error on one citation. It appears to be the standard template used for every notice the program has issued since December 2025.
State law requires warning signs be posted at least 300 feet before the area where the detection system is in use. Using Aurora's own figures — 369 feet from sign to camera housing, minus the 70.28-foot detection range confirmed in Aurora's CORA response — the actual warning distance is only 298.72 feet. Aurora's own records prove a 1.28-foot shortfall.
Colorado law mandates compliance with the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) on all public roads. Aurora's "Photo Radar Ahead" sign is white and rectangular — the format reserved for regulatory signs. Warning signs must be yellow with a diamond shape. No approved alternative design exists. Aurora's sign fails every MUTCD classification, and is mounted on the same post as a regulatory No Parking sign in violation of sign grouping standards.
Know Your Rights
Colorado law gives you specific rights when it comes to automated speed enforcement. Here is what every Aurora resident who has received a citation should know.
Count the days between the issuance date printed on your notice and the response deadline. If you were given fewer than 45 days, the notice may be legally defective. Aurora's notices appear to give only 30 days.
You have the right to contest your citation before a magistrate. Administrative review denials are not the end of the road. If your administrative review was denied, you can request a formal adjudication hearing — even after two denials. The city bears the burden of proving the citation was lawfully issued.
Under Colorado's open records law (CORA), you can request the city's deployment records, calibration certificates, vendor contracts, and sign placement documentation. These are the same records that revealed Aurora's legal violations. File requests at Aurora's CORA portal.
For automated speed enforcement to be lawfully issued, Aurora must: post a compliant warning sign at least 300 feet before the detection zone; give recipients a minimum of 45 days to respond; use only properly calibrated and documented equipment; and ensure all signage meets MUTCD standards.
What to Check on Your Notice of Violation
Get Involved
If you received a citation, if you have questions about the program, or if you want to support Aurora residents fighting back against unlawful enforcement — we want to hear from you.