PROVIDENCE — Nestor Traffic Systems, the technology company that provides electronic monitoring systems, such as red-light cameras, for traffic enforcement, has gone into receivership.

On Wednesday, Superior Court Judge Michael A. Silverstein appointed Jonathan N. Savage, a partner with Shechtman, Halperin and Savage, LLP, to run Nestor Traffic Systems and its parent company, Nestor Inc., on an interim basis. The court will reconvene in 21 days to determine if Savage will be designated permanent receiver.

Nestor spokesman Bill Fischer said the goal is to continue operating the company until a purchaser can be found. “This is not a first step towards dissolving the assets,” he said. “We want to protect the company’s assets until we can find a buyer.” Fischer said Nestor management has already been in discussion with several interested parties about buying the company.

Nestor has about 80 employees, 55 in Rhode Island. Fischer said no layoffs are planned at this time. “There are 55 Rhode Island jobs at stake. Our goal is to identify a purchaser, protect those jobs and retain the company in Rhode Island. … We anticipate a court-supervised competitive bidding process.”

The company has provided traffic-monitoring systems for about 25 municipalities in California, Georgia, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, Delaware, Iowa, Texas and Florida. It does not have clients in Rhode Island.

“Nestor has provided high-quality traffic-enforcement technology for the past 10 years. I want to assure our customers they will continue to receive advanced technologies and high-quality service during this time,” said chief executive officer Michael C. James in a news statement.

Fischer said Nestor’s total debt amounts to $33 million. He said he was unable to provide a figure for Nestor’s total assets, but the company’s debts exceed the assets. “The simplest way to put it is that revenue forecasts by prior management did not come true, and now the company is saddled with a lot of debt. Then you have to add the state of the economy, which is certainly a variable that had led us to this point,” he said.

Founded as a partnership in 1975 by Brown University physics professors Leon Cooper and Charles Elbaum, Nestor began as a software development company. Its gradual move to traffic-enforcement applications resulted in the incorporation of Nestor Traffic Systems in 1997.

More recently, the company underwent a contentious change in management. In May, 2007, the company’s board of directors voted to remove then-CEO William B. Danzell. His departure followed a sharp decline in the price of Nestor stock over the previous 18 months, from $6.90 per share to 51 cents per share. Danzell attempted to regain control of the company, but was ultimately unsuccessful.

Nestor stock has been publicly traded on the Nasdaq stock market, but was delisted in April 2008 because the stock price had fallen below $1 per share.

asmith@projo.com