Every claim below comes from a record on this site or from the reporting and statutes those records cite. Data as of July 27, 2026.
Washington rewrote the rules mid-contract
In February 2026 a county judge ruled that reader footage counts as a public record, and cities paused their networks rather than hand out the data. Senate Bill 6002, signed March 30, exempted the footage from the Public Records Act, and the pause reversed: Everett reactivated its 68 cameras in early April at the mayor’s direction, and Stanwood announced its reactivation April 1. Edmonds read the same law and left anyway, citing records of federal access to its network and a reported FBI plan to buy nationwide reader access. 1 law, 3 records, 2 opposite outcomes.
Virginia caps retention, and the portals show it
The tracker held 7 Virginia records on July 27, 2026, and every one with portal data reported 21-day retention: Norfolk (175 cameras) and Chesapeake (64 by the city’s own count) among them. No other state’s records show that uniform figure, and it sits well below the 30-day default the portals report almost everywhere else.
Nebraska makes every search a documented act
Kearney’s record carries it: searches of the reader system require a justification, and the department reports annually under the state’s Automatic License Plate Reader Privacy Act. The pilot the council approved in June 2022 runs today under those terms.
Michigan is drafting its statute
Michigan has no ALPR law yet, and a bipartisan bill would change that. Rep. Doug Wozniak of Shelby Township introduced it in January as part of a 2-bill package with Rep. Jimmie Wilson Jr.; it would require agencies to publish their reader logs and delete camera data after 30 days unless a judge approves a longer hold for an investigation. Wozniak says the ACLU and the Michigan Sheriffs’ Association sit at an impasse over the judge requirement, and the 2 groups plan to meet in August to work on a compromise (Detroit News via GovTech).
California shows what no cap looks like
San Francisco’s portal reports 365-day retention, the longest among large California agencies on the tracker. San Jose held all reader data for a year until March 2026, when the council cut retention to 30 days after a lawsuit and about 100 residents at the meeting. Costa Mesa kept data 365 days and directed staff in July to negotiate it down to 45. Where no statute sets the number, the number moves when residents push.
Idaho sets a floor city hall answers for
Idaho Falls’s record notes images purge after 30 days under state law, and residents at the June 4 council meeting questioned whether the city’s contract violates the state’s limits on commercial use of reader data. The chief defended the system in July; the contract question stays open on the record.
The 4 states with no record at all
The tracker covered 46 states on July 27, 2026. The missing 4 each had a reason. New Hampshire law requires reader data purged within 3 minutes of capture unless it triggers an arrest, citation, or active alert, which rules out Flock’s model of keeping scans for later searches, per New Hampshire Public Radio. Montana shows only private business installs, with no public-agency contract found. Anchorage approved an $11.8 million technology package in September 2025, and no source confirms Flock as its vendor. Honolulu runs license plate readers, and no source confirms the vendor either. Each state joins the map when a verifiable record exists, and no sooner.
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