For being related to speeding, bills challenging the claim of ticket quotas have moved remarkably slow over the years.

"This issue is not a new issue," Hansen said. "Last year I presented the bill and received opposition from my district even though it passed the House."

Sen. Jon Greiner, R-Ogden, who is also the Ogden police chief, said he has the same three concerns about the bill that he did last session when Hansen sponsored a similar bill.

"First, I have not seen any proof of a quota system," Greiner said. "Second, everything (Hansen) offers is anecdotal. Third, (Hansen's) made no attempt to understand the issue."

Part of that issue, Greiner said, is about 65 percent of any funds received from traffic citations goes to the Legislature to use in 13 programs, such as emergency medical services and crime victim programs. About 17.5 percent goes to the municipality where the ticket was issued and the remainder goes to the law enforcement agency that issued the ticket.

"It's something that has been assumed and talked about by citizens who have received a lot of tickets," said Lindon Councilman Toby Bath in the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee. "I'm saying there's no quotas, it's only a perception."

Bath said he was an officer for 22 years and has dealt with departments for 20 more and never saw a quota system. He was one of many who said the same thing, including South Ogden Police Chief Val Shupe.

"South Ogden does not have a quota, we've never had a quota," he said. "We don't need to have legislation against it if we don't have a problem."

Ken Wallentine, the chief of law enforcement in the Attorney General's Office, cited a media report that sifted through all traffic tickets written in Orem for a whole year but failed to find a pattern of quotas. The city is often cited by drivers as having a quota system.

One former officer and member of the committee, Rep. Carl Wimmer, R-Herriman, forcefully rebutted those statements.

"I worked for a police department that had quotas. End of story," he said. "The statement that quotas don't exist is false."

He went on to say that he missed a promotion because he wasn't writing three tickets per shift. Hansen waved an Ogden Police Department officer evaluation that read that an average number of written tickets per day was tied to a particular pay raise.

It passed to the House floor on a 6-1 vote with Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, casting the lone "nay."

• Loretta Park of the Standard-Examiner contributed to this story.