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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh Legislature, Second Regular Session
AMENDED
automated
license plate readers
(NOW: license plate readers; privacy; violations)
Purpose
Outlines official law enforcement purposes for which a law enforcement agency may use automated license plate readers and requirements relating to automated license plate reader use, training and data management.
Background
The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) must provide every
vehicle owner with one license plate for each registered vehicle. The license
plate must display the number assigned to the vehicle and vehicle owner. A
person must maintain each license plate so that it is clearly legible and
securely fastened to the vehicle in a manner that: 1) prevents the plate from
swinging; 2) is at a height of at least 12 inches from the ground to the bottom
of the plate; and
3) is in a position that is clearly visible. Failure to display a license plate
as prescribed is a civil traffic violation (A.R.S. §§ 28-121;
28-2351;
and 28-2354).
Except as specifically prescribed, the federal Driver's Privacy
Protection Act prohibits a state department of motor vehicles and any officer,
employee or contractor of the department from knowingly disclosing or otherwise
making available to any person or entity an individual's personal information
or highly restricted personal information obtained in connection with a motor
vehicle record without the express consent of the person whom the information
applies. Personal information may be disclosed for uses including, but not
limited to use: 1) by any government agency, including any court or law
enforcement agency, in carrying out the agency's functions or any private
person or entity acting on behalf of a federal, state or local agency; 2) in
connection with matters of motor vehicle or driver safety and theft; and 3) in
connection with any civil, criminal, administrative or arbitral proceeding in
any federal, state or local court, agency or
self-regulatory body, including for service of process, investigation in
anticipation of litigation and the execution and enforcement of judgments and
orders (18
U.S.C. § 2721).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
1. Limits a law enforcement agency's use of an automated license plate reader only to:
a) legitimate and official law enforcement purposes;
b) use in conjunction with any patrol operation or criminal law enforcement investigation;
c) canvassing license plates around any crime scene; and
d) checking any partial license plate number reported during a major crime to identify persons of interest.
2. Requires a law enforcement officer, if practicable, to verify an automated license plate reader response through an accessible, authorized central law enforcement database before taking enforcement action based only on an alert from an automated license plate reader.
3. Prohibits a law enforcement agency employee from operating an automated license plate reader until the employee successfully completes law enforcement agency-approved training for the automated license plate reader.
4. Prohibits an operator of an automated license plate reader from accessing data from an authorized central law enforcement database unless the operator is authorized to access the data.
5. Stipulates that data from an automated license plate reader may be accessed by law enforcement agencies only if a trackable criminal case number or incident number is provided for the data being accessed.
6. Specifies that:
a) all data and images collected by an automated license plate reader are for official use by the law enforcement agency that collected the data and images; and
b) any data or images collected by automated license plate readers are not subject to a public records request, except as required by subpoena or by any other law.
7. Requires a law enforcement agency that uses an automated license plate reader to:
a) ensure that all automated license plate reader data is only accessible through a password-protected system capable of documenting all accessed information by name of the person who accessed the data and the date and time of access;
b) ensure that any person who is approved to access automated license plate reader data and images is allowed access only for official law enforcement purposes;
c) release automated license plate reader data and images to other authorized and verified law enforcement officials and agencies for official law enforcement purposes only if the date and time of access, the reason for access and the law enforcement agency that accessed the information are documented in the system, unless the law enforcement agency's policies prohibit the release; and
d) perform annual system audits of the law enforcement agency's automated license plate reader system.
8. Deems a law enforcement agency that operates an automated license plate reader as responsible for ensuring proper collection and retention of the data and images collected.
9.
Prohibits a person from accessing an image of a license plate or any
other accompanying data that is captured by an automatic license plate reader
more than 48 hours after notification to law enforcement of an incident or
occurrence of a crime, unless a search warrant or subpoena has been issued.
10. Outlines circumstances under which a search warrant or subpoena is not required to access automated license plate reader data or images, including if:
a) the owner of a vehicle gives voluntary consent that authorizes the operator of the automated license plate reader to access data or images of the owner's vehicle;
b) the owner of a vehicle files a report with a law enforcement agency attesting that the vehicle is lost or stolen;
c) exigent circumstances make it impractical to obtain a search warrant or subpoena before the exigent circumstances no longer exist;
d) searching for evidence relating to an Amber, Blue, Turquoise or Seek and Find Alert; and
e) searching for evidence relating to human trafficking or sex trafficking.
11. Deems a person as guilty of a class 6 felony if the person willfully and intentionally queries, accesses, uses, sells, shares or disseminates an image of a license plate or any captured data from an automated license plate reader in violation of the outlined automated license plate reader requirements.
12. Specifies that the outlined automated license plate reader requirements do not prohibit a law enforcement agency from allowing a vendor to process de-identified or redacted derivatives of automated license plate reader data or images under a written agreement, if the vendor only uses the data or images for operating, securing, testing or improving the automated license plate reader system.
13. Exempts a third-party vendor from liability for disclosing automated license plate reader images or data under a duly authorized subpoena, warrant or court order.
14. Specifies that official law enforcement purposes include the identification of stolen or wanted vehicles, stolen license plates, human trafficking and missing persons, the gathering of information related to active warrants, suspect interdiction and stolen property recovery.
15. Defines automated license plate reader as a technology that provides stationary or mobile automated detection of license plates and that captures data associated with license plates for official law enforcement purposes.
16. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
Amendments Adopted by Committee of the Whole
1. Adopted the strike-everything amendment.
2. Specifies that access to automated license plate reader data is restricted to law enforcement agencies and only when a trackable criminal case number or incident number is provided for the data.
3. Prohibits a person from accessing automated license plate reader data and images more than 48 hours after notification to law enforcement of an incident or occurrence of a crime unless a search warrant or subpoena is issued for the data.
4. Outlines circumstances in which a search warrant or subpoena is not required to access automated license plate reader images and data.
5.
Specifies that the prescribed requirements relating to automated license
plate reader data and images do not prohibit a law enforcement agency from
allowing a vendor to process
de-identified or redacted data if the vendor only uses the data for prescribed
purposes.
6. Replaces the prohibition on a third party from intentionally releasing automated license plate reader data with the prohibition on any person from intentionally accessing, using, selling or disseminating any captured data or image of a license plate from an automated license plate reader in violation of the prescribed automated license plate reader requirements.
7. Classifies a violation of the prohibition on accessing or sharing automated license plate reader data as a class 6 felony.
8. Exempts a third-party vendor from liability for disclosing automated license plate reader data or images under a duly authorized subpoena, warrant or court order.
9. Requires a law enforcement agency to ensure that all automated license plate reader data, rather than only downloaded data, is accessible only through a password-protected system as prescribed.
10. Makes technical changes.
Senate Action
ATT 2/10/26 DPA/SE 7-2-1
Prepared by Senate Research
March 6, 2026
LMM/KS/ci