The Fort Walton Beach City Council voted Tuesday to wait for the results of a title search before responding to Okaloosa County’s request that the city refund fines from a school zone speed camera on Hollywood Boulevard.

• City Manager Jason Davis told the council the county’s letter “painted a picture that we did something inappropriate as a city,” but said staff found no evidence of wrongdoing.

“If there was a smoking gun that we’ve done something horrible, we would’ve owned it immediately,” Davis said. “But that’s not the case.”

The dispute centers on a camera near Fort Walton Beach High School that the county says was placed in the county’s right-of-way without authorization. County Commissioners voted on April 7 to formally request the city refund fines collected from the camera, which the county says were void from the moment they were issued.

City Attorney Jeff Burns told the council the city has statutory authority to issue permits for the cameras — and that the county attorney’s office “had not found anything to contradict that authority.”

• Burns said refunds for citations issued before the county’s March 24 resolution banning such cameras from county roads “would be a big solid no, you’re not legally required to.”

The city turned off both Hollywood Boulevard cameras on April 3 while researching the ownership question. Other school zone cameras in the city remain active.

Both governments are jointly funding a full title search to determine who owns the road. Burns said staff spent extensive hours researching records dating to the 1950s and 60s, but the ownership remains unclear.

“No one can figure out anything east of Wright Parkway,” Burns said, referring to the portion of Hollywood Boulevard near Edwins Elementary. The camera near the high school is west of Wright Parkway.

According to Burns, the city conveyed Hollywood Boulevard to the state in 1967, and the state transferred it back in 1977 through a statutory map process. But records from that era are incomplete on both sides.

• “There’s a huge gap in records on both the city and the county side,” Burns said.

Davis noted that the city receives only $39 per citation. The remainder goes to the state, school board and program vendor. He questioned whether the state or school board would return their portions if the city issued refunds.

Several council members voiced support for the camera program, citing safety concerns.

“I was actually late to a meeting this morning because I was at two schools and the members of those schools were telling me how grateful and thankful they were for this program because they see it changing behavior,” Councilman Bryce Jeter said.

Councilwoman Gloria DeBerry said residents near the city’s other school zone cameras want the program to continue.

“I’m begging you to allow us to keep the three cameras in the other three school zones,” she said.

Davis defended the program as a proactive safety measure, arguing the city should not wait for a child to be seriously injured before taking action.

But Councilman David Schmidt raised concerns about staff time and the judicial process, noting the city has dismissed citations when recipients hire attorneys to challenge them.

• “If the city is going to dismiss it anyways, we need to give some clarity,” Schmidt said. He asked the council to revisit the camera ordinance at the April 28 meeting to consider whether to continue the program.

The council voted unanimously to wait for the title search results before formally responding to the county. The issue is expected to return at the April 28 meeting.