The city of Ocean Springs plans to place $468,681 into an account linked to a federal lawsuit filed by motorists until a judge decides whether they were improperly ticketed for driving without insurance after traffic cameras captured photos of their license-plates.

The Ocean Springs Board of Aldermen decided Tuesday night to turn the money over to the court, indicating the city is relinquishing any claim to the funds it collected from uninsured motorists.

Three motorists ticketed in Ocean Springs filed the lawsuit in August 2023 against the Georgia-based company that ran the program, Securix LLC. The city is not a party to the lawsuit, but split revenue 50-50 from the uninsured motorist program with the company.

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The three motorists are seeking class-action status for the lawsuit, filed by Chhabra Gibbs & Herrington of Jackson, so others ticketed in the city also would be represented in the case.

The lawsuit accuses Securix of deceiving vehicle owners by essentially posing as a law enforcement agency through its mailed traffic citations in Ocean Springs.

The city issued a news release after the board voted to relinquish the uninsured motorist fines and fees collected. It said, in part:

“The Southern Poverty Law Center, the MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi School of Law, Public Justice, and the law firm of Chhabra, Gibbs & Herrington PLLC raised concerns that Securix violated state and federal law and exposed the city to potential financial liability.
“Although Ocean Springs contracted with Securix in 2021 with the intent of encouraging uninsured drivers to obtain car insurance, the city later determined that the program did not function as intended and terminated the contract in May 2023.”

How uninsured motorist program worked

The program used automated license plate readers and artificial intelligence to extract license plates that were then run through a database to determine whether the vehicle owner had insurance.

The police department was supposed to review the information and issue the tickets that Securix mailed out.
If a vehicle was not listed as being insured, a ticket went to the owner. The system did not identify the person driving the vehicle. On their face, the citations claimed to be uniform traffic tickets that appeared to be from the police department.

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The Ocean Springs citation offered three options: Call a toll-free number and provide proof of insurance, enter a diversion program that charges a $300 fee and includes a short online course and requires agreement that the vehicle will not be driven uninsured on public roadways, or contest the ticket in court and risk $510 in fines and fees, plus the potential of a one-year driver’s license suspension.

The funds Ocean Springs is turning over to the court represent the city’s share of proceeds collected from motorists.

Securix is in a separate state court battle with three politically connected Mississippians who formed a company called QJR LLC to join the ticketing business.

Jackson area businessmen Josh Gregory and Quinton Dickerson and Pascagoula attorney Robert Wilkinson formed QJR LLC to partner with Securix. They helped spread the program to numerous other Mississippi cities. Gregory and Dickerson own Frontier Strategies, an advertising company that has run campaigns for state and local politicians.

Wilkinson was the city attorney for Ocean Springs when its Securix contract was signed. Wilkinson resigned from the position in June, after the website GCWire.com, published numerous pieces about the ticketing program and his involvement.

QJR is in a bitter legal dispute with Securix and its chairman, Jonathan Miller, in Chancery Court. QJR wants its partnership with Securix dissolved. The partners lost access to the insured motorist database after Miller accused the Mississippians of wrongdoing. The ticketing program no longer operates in Mississippi.

A trial date in the state case is set for January 12 before Judge Neil Harris, whose son, David Harris, is now the city attorney for Ocean Springs.

This article was produced in partnership between the Sun Herald and Mississippi Today.