Suffolk Red-Light Camera Fee Settlement: November 9, 2026 Is the Last Day to Opt Out or Object — Four Weeks Before the December 8 Claim Deadline. Drivers Who Stay In Get $36 per $30 Fee; Nassau Drivers Are Not Covered.

If you paid Suffolk County’s $30 red-light camera fee at any point since April 1, 2013, you are in the class automatically. To get money you have to file a claim by December 8, 2026. November 9, 2026 is the deadline for the two other choices: leaving the settlement or objecting to it. As of October 19, 2026, November 9 is 21 days away and the claim deadline is 50 days away. The court-authorized notice puts it this way: “If you do nothing, you will not get Benefits and you give up the right to sue the Defendants about the claims resolved by this Settlement.”

The lawsuit says the county broke a state cap. According to the notice, the plaintiff alleges that “New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law section 1111-b limits liability to $50 per violation” and that the county “charged an unlawful $30 administrative fee on top of the fine for each red-light camera violation.” On April 27, 2020 the court declared anything above $50 (or $75 with a late fee) void. The Appellate Division affirmed that ruling on November 27, 2024 and affirmed class certification on December 11, 2024. The county stopped charging the fee on January 25, 2023. The county “deny[s] the merit of these allegations and deny any wrongdoing.” We covered the basic terms when the settlement was announced. What follows is what drivers need to act on now.

The class is “all Persons or Entities who between April 1, 2013 and the present paid a $30 Administrative Fee to the County Defendants for red-light camera program violations,” so a company that paid fees on its vehicles is included. Each valid claim receives up to $36 per fee paid, and a driver who paid five fees can claim five times. Class counsel told News 12 that the $36 is the $30 fee plus $6 in interest. The payment drops pro rata only if valid claims together go above $45 million.

The $45 million is a ceiling, not a fund. Under the agreement, benefits are paid “on a ‘claims made’ basis and the County Defendants will pay or, cause to be paid, Valid Claims only.” Money that nobody claims stays with the county. The same is true for payments nobody collects: a check is void if it is not cashed within 90 days, a prepaid card if it is not used within one year, and that money is “returned … to the County Defendants to be utilized to support driver safety initiatives.”

No money moves before final approval. The notice says payments come “after the Settlement is ‘finally approved’ and any challenges to that approval are finally resolved.” Once the settlement takes effect, the county has 30 days to fund the valid claims, and Kroll then has 14 days to pay. Class counsel’s fees of up to $12,500,000 and a $5,000 award for the class representative are paid “in addition to, and separately from” the claims money.

To get paid: file online at SuffolkRedLightSettlement.com by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on December 8, 2026, or mail the form postmarked by that date to McGrath v. Suffolk County, et al., c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC, P.O. Box 5324, New York, NY 10150-5324. The postcard’s tear-off return form is already postage-paid. If your claim is missing information, Kroll has to ask you for it and give you 30 days to fix it before rejecting the claim. If you lost the postcard or never got it, call (833) 447-6790.

To opt out (deadline November 9, 2026): send a signed letter with your full name, address and phone number and this sentence: “I/We request to opt out of the Settlement in McGrath v. Suffolk County, et al., Index No. 608155/2016.” The letter has to be mailed to all three of these addresses, postmarked by November 9, 2026:

• Kroll Settlement Administration LLC, ATTN: Request for Exclusion, P.O. Box 5324, New York, NY 10150-5324
• Kevin S. Landau, Taus, Cebulash & Landau, LLP, 123 William Street, Suite 1900A, New York, NY 10038
• Elliot A. Hallak, Harris Beach Murtha Cullina PLLC, 677 Broadway, Suite 1101, Albany, NY 12207

Opting out only makes sense if you plan to sue the county yourself. You keep that right, but you give up the $36 per fee.

To object (also November 9, 2026): file your objection with, or mail it to, the Clerk of the Court, Supreme Court of New York, Suffolk County, 1 Court Street, Riverhead, NY 11901, and mail copies to the same three addresses. The notice lists what the objection must contain: the case name and number, your Class Member ID, name, address, email and phone, proof that you are a class member, your specific grounds, any documents, a list of every class-action objection you or your lawyer filed in the previous five years (or a statement that there were none), and your signature. You can object to the $12,500,000 fee request as well. Objecting does not cost you your money: “If you object, you can still submit a Claim Form for Benefits.” You cannot both opt out and object.

Yes, if it matches the settlement agreement. According to the agreement, the notice is a “preprinted double-sided postcard” with an “identification number unique to each Class Member” and a postage-paid return claim form showing the number of fees the county’s records list for you. Claims are checked against those records, so the ID ties your claim to your actual tickets. News 12 reported on September 9, 2026 that the postcards had gone out that day. The full notice opens with “A court authorized this Notice. You are not being sued. This is not a solicitation from a lawyer.”

The settlement does not ask for a fee, a bank login or a card number at the postcard stage. The only phone number in the court notice is (833) 447-6790, and the only website is SuffolkRedLightSettlement.com. Take the address from the postcard or the notice instead of clicking a link in a text message. The official site blocked our automated access on October 19, 2026, so we did not read it directly. For how Kroll’s mail usually looks, see our Kroll settlement administration guide.

This settlement does not help Nassau drivers. It covers only fees paid to Suffolk County and its Traffic and Parking Violation Agency. Suffolk ended its camera program in December 2024. Nassau’s program kept running: in June 2025 Newsday reported that it was “ongoing” with the $50 base fine. Nassau stopped charging its extra $100 fee after the Appellate Division’s ruling on November 27, 2024.

The Nassau refund fight is a separate lawsuit, Guthart v. Nassau County, Index No. 604271/2016. According to the Suffolk settlement agreement, on October 6, 2025 the Nassau Supreme Court “again granted summary judgment in favor of defendants and dismissed the complaint,” and the plaintiff’s appeal “is pending.” The Long Island Press reported that the judge found drivers had paid the fees, an estimated $400 million, “voluntarily.” There is no Nassau claim form and no Nassau settlement. We checked again on October 19, 2026 and found no later update. Anyone with a Nassau ticket question has to deal with Nassau County, not the Suffolk administrator.

If the court approves it, the settlement would end a case filed in 2016. Newsday reported in June 2025 that Suffolk had collected $91 million in these fees from 2013 through 2022 and that the amount was subject to a 9% annual statutory interest rate. The county had not given up its appeal: it had a motion pending to take class certification to the New York Court of Appeals. The agreement pauses that motion until the settlement takes effect. If the settlement fails, the county keeps the right to keep fighting. That is the trade-off Justice Reilly weighs at the fairness hearing on December 8, 2026 at 10:00 a.m., 1 Court Street, Riverhead. The notice warns that the date “may change without further notice.”

Before the hearing, Kroll has to certify to the court, at least 21 days ahead, that notice went out. The agreement also requires a reminder notice that restates the claim deadline. Opt-out and objection counts and the fee motion are filed in the state court’s system; as of October 19, 2026 we have not been able to review them. More settlements with open claim windows are listed on our open class action settlements page.