For more than three years, the city of Des Moines has seized state income tax refunds from people who fail to pay automated traffic enforcement camera citations.

It's a practice an Iowa attorney has asked Polk County District Court to halt.

In court documents filed this week, attorney Jim Larew wrote that Des Moines officials are misusing Iowa's decades-old program that allows citizens' income tax refunds to be withheld if they owe money to a state agency, local government or other public entity.

Des Moines, which in 2011 began using automated cameras to enforce speed limits and full stops at red lights before a right turn, has accumulated more than $1 million in uncollected fines from the devices, according to previous Des Moines Register reports.

Read the full article on the Des Moines Register website.