Lawyers for residents who sued the city of Sugar Land in January over its use of cameras to cite drivers for running red lights will file a list of documents this week to be considered by the First Court of Appeals in Houston after their suit was dismissed by a district court. The 434th District Court in Fort Bend County on July 24 dismissed the class action suit brought by two county residents because of a lack of sufficient evidence, according to the court order. The district court also ruled the case does not fall under its jurisdiction. The plaintiffs’ attorney, Scott Stewart, said he plans to supply the appellate court with the plaintiffs’ original petition, the defendants’ supplemental answers, and other items from the original suit filed with the district court. Stewart could not provide a date of when the first hearing in the appeals process might occur. The timeframe of the appeals process will depend on the motions, briefs, and requests filed by each side, Stewart said. Sugar Land resident Helwig Van Der Grinten, founder of the Houston Coalition Against Red Light Cameras, alleged in his lawsuit the city failed to conduct adequate engineering studies and to appoint a citizens’ committee to evaluate those studies as required by Chapter 707 of the Texas Transportation Code, according to court documents. In addition to the city itself, Van Der Grinten’s lawsuit named Sugar Land Mayor Joe Zimmerman, City Manager Allen Bogard, and Police Chief Doug Brinkley as the defendants who were sued in their official capacity. “A traffic engineer is supposed to examine the intersections that are being enforced with red light cameras prior to [the cameras] being activated,” Van Der Grinten said. The purpose of such a study is for engineers to examine factors contributing to the number of red light violations and whether such violations can be reduced through design and engineering changes or by rule enforcement changes, according to the Federal Highway Administration. “Our red light camera program fully complies with state law,” said Sugar Land spokesman Doug Adolph in an email. Adolph declined to discuss the matter further as it is an issue of ongoing litigation. Van Der Grinten’s lawsuit also alleged the use of cameras violates people’s rights to face their accuser and to a trial by jury. George Staples, attorney for the defendants and the city, said the law does not afford those rights to those involved in civil court cases. “Criminal law and civil law are entirely different,” Staples said. “Due process doesn’t mean what they think it does. It means the process that is due in order protect the constitutional rights. One federal court mentioned, ‘There is no constitutional right or fundamental right to run red lights.’”