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Police in towns once deemed speed traps will again be allowed to patrol state and U.S. highways in their city limits.

The Legislature passed a bill this session that does away with speed trap designation. An amendment to House Bill 1616 allows city police officers to patrol and issue tickets on portions of state and U.S. highways that run through their city limits. The bill does not pertain to interstate highways.

The bill, written by Rep. Paul Roan, D-Tishomingo, includes numerous pages of updates to statutes and clarifications requested by the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety. It passed the House without opposition and only Sen. Kenneth Corn, D-Poteau, voted against it in the Senate. Gov. Brad Henry signed the bill into law on April 30.

Roan, whose district includes Caney and Stringtown along U.S. 69, said city police departments must be able to enforce traffic laws.

"Legislators should never pass a law that keeps law enforcement from enforcing the law,” said Roan, a former state trooper.

But Rep. Glen "Bud” Smithson, D-Sallisaw, said Roan made a shrewd move to change the law to benefit cities in his district.

Smithson, also a retired state trooper, called Roan's amendment a "woolly-booger,” a colloquial term for last-minute language inserted in a bill that has far-reaching impact.

"He's a very sharp House member, and he saw an opportunity to get a woolly-booger right in the middle of this bill,” said Smithson. "Nobody bothered to read it because it was a clean-up bill.”

Smithson, whose district includes Moffett, opposed the change in the law and said he's making plans to file legislation next session to limit a community's ability to issue tickets.

Smithson authored the bill that set restrictions on how much money a city can get from issuing traffic tickets. After Moffett was declared a speed trap and barred from issuing tickets along U.S. 64, the city asked for bankruptcy protection.

"I don't think public safety should solely be used to build revenue for a community,” Smithson said. "It should be to protect the public. That should be its sole purpose.”

Traffic stops are integral to stopping other crimes, Roan said.

During a year's time in Caney, routine traffic stops resulted in 102 felony arrests, Roan said.

"Must of those were drug-related,” Roan said. "U.S. 69 is the new pipeline for dope that's coming out of Texas.”

People who are following the law shouldn't have to worry about the change, Roan said.

"I look at it as a user fee,” he said. "If they're not speeding, they don't have to pay. I think what I did was speak up for law enforcement. People need to learn to obey those speeding signs and not pay the fines.”