FARGO - A woman says this city has been breaking the law by overcharging people for traffic violations.

Stephanie Sauby, of Fargo, a day care worker, filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of all drivers who have paid fines for traffic violations in the city since Aug. 30, 2001. She seeks to have it declared a class action lawsuit.

"I believe that our pleadings we filed with the U.S. District Court speak for themselves," Mark Friese, one of Sauby's attorneys, said Thursday. "We're basically looking forward to the city's response."

Stacey Tjon, an attorney for the city, said it was too early to comment on the complaint. She said the lawsuit is complicated by three alleged constitutional violations.

"We're just beginning to comb through it," Tjon said Thursday.

The August 2001 date was selected because it is when retired District Judge Norman Backes ruled that Fargo's traffic fines could not exceed those authorized by state law, and two other district judges issued similar rulings in July 2006 and January 2007, the complaint said.

Sauby said she was overcharged five separate times, beginning with a February 2003 violation for failure to have her vehicle under control. She said she was fined $60, twice the maximum fee allowed by state law.

Twice she was ticketed for not wearing her seat belt, in August 2003 and June 2004 - both $40 fines. State law calls for a $20 fine, the complaint said.

Sauby also said the city overstepped its bounds on two $40 speeding tickets. She said she should have been fined $9 for a September 2003 violation and $13 for a January 2006 violation - each amount equaling the miles per hour she was driving over the speed limit.

Timothy Purdon, an attorney for Sauby, said drivers who received traffic fines since August 2001 will be notified only if the class action is certified.

"At that point, they can either do nothing or opt out," Purdon said.