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The legislature responded to these and other concerns by passing SB 6002, which became effective March 30, 2026. This new law places restrictions on how agencies can use ALPR technology and, once codified, will appear as a new chapter in RCW Title 10.
The requirements and restrictions contained in SB 6002 are summarized below.
SB 6002, Section 3: Limits Permissible ALPR Use
Under Section 3, agencies can only use ALPRs to capture vehicle data for certain law enforcement activities, to enforce parking restrictions, and for certain activities related to transportation.
Law enforcement
There are now only two ways that law enforcement agencies (defined in RCW 10.116.010(1)) can use ALPR data.
First, law enforcement agencies can compare collected ALPR data with information in the department of licensing (DOL) or state criminal justice information system databases, or with the FBI’s Kidnappings and Missing Persons list, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children list, or the Washington missing persons list.
Second, police can compare collected ALPR data against vehicle license plate numbers or characteristics in a state or local ALPR database, but only if the comparison is relevant and material to investigating a vehicle that is:
- Stolen;
- Associated with a missing or endangered person;
- Registered to a person with an active felony or gross misdemeanor warrant; or
- Related or involved in a felony or gross misdemeanor.
SB 6002 does not define “relevant” or “material,” but Washington ER 401 essentially defines “relevant” as evidence tending to prove or disprove a fact in dispute, and Black’s Law Dictionary defines “material” as evidence with “some logical connection with the consequential facts.” See, e.g., Chang v. Xie (2024).
Importantly, Section 5(4) adds that agencies must have a “valid, court-issued probable cause warrant” to obtain ALPR data collected by private entities (like retail establishments).
Parking enforcement
Agencies can use ALPRs to enforce vehicle parking restrictions or to identify vehicles for impoundment or immobilization under local ordinances enacted pursuant to RCW 46.55.240. If used for the latter purpose, the ALPR information database can only include vehicle license plate numbers.
Transportation studies
Agencies can use ALPRs to give the public real-time traffic information or to conduct traffic modeling or studies (like those measuring construction delays or route usage). They can also use ALPRs to enforce commercial vehicle restrictions at Washington State Patrol enforcement sites and weigh stations.
SB 6002, Section 3: Prohibits ALPR Use for Certain Activities
Section 3 also specifically prohibits state agencies described in RCW 43.17.425 from using ALPR data in the following ways:
- Consistent with RCW 10.93.160, they cannot use ALPRs for immigration investigation or enforcement.
- They cannot use ALPR data to obtain information about “protected health care services.” RCW 7.115.010(4) defines these services as “gender-affirming treatment and reproductive health care services that are lawful in the state of Washington.”
- They cannot use ALPRs to track or monitor activity protected by the Washington State Constitution or the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Section 3 also prohibits all agencies from using ALPRs to collect vehicle license plate data at the following locations:
- Facilities (including their premises, immediate surroundings and access points) that provide protected health care services defined in RCW 7.115.010(4);
- Facilities conducting immigration matters defined in RCW 19.154.020(2);
- Elementary and secondary schools;
- Places of worship;
- Courts; and
- Food banks.
For this purpose, “facilities” means a location’s building(s) and its immediately adjacent parking lot(s) used primarily and exclusively for the above purposes.
SB 6002, Sections 4 and 5: Places New Restrictions on ALPR Data Sharing and Retention
Sections 4 and 5 strictly limit how all agencies can share or disclose their collected ALPR data. First, any sharing or disclosure must be for an authorized Section 3 purpose as described above.
Second, the sharing or disclosure must be required in a “judicial proceeding.” For example, agencies can share their collected ALPR data “in discovery in accordance with applicable court rules.”
Third, agencies cannot accomplish ALPR data sharing by giving others direct access to their ALPR systems unless:
- The access recipient is also an agency allowed to use ALPR data in Section 3 above, or
- The recipient is an ALPR vendor that has been given access only “to the extent necessary to fulfill a specific agency-authorized purpose.”
Section 4 also imposes the following ALPR data retention requirements on agencies: