by Jake Goldstein-Street, Washington State Standard
March 6, 2026
Washington is one step closer to adding guardrails to the use of automated license plate readers.
The state House on Thursday passed a revamped version of legislation to implement Washington’s first regulations of the cameras, which have become more common in recent years. The bill now returns to the Senate to concur with the changes before it can go to Gov. Bob Ferguson. The Senate initially passed the bill on a 40-9 vote last month.
Senate Bill 6002 responds to concerns over federal immigration agents accessing data collected by the devices, and general fears over widespread surveillance. Cities across Washington have started to use the cameras, usually from the company Flock, as an added tool to solve crimes.
At least 16 other states regulate the readers.
“Right now, this is the wild West,” said Rep. Osman Salahuddin, D-Redmond.
Perhaps the most significant change approved Thursday deals with when police departments can use these cameras.
Initially, lawmakers proposed only allowing police to use them to compare the data to watch lists for stolen vehicles, missing or endangered people, vehicles registered to individuals with felony warrants and investigations related to vehicles involved in a felony.
The version the House approved expanded the list to gross misdemeanors.
This issue had been a sticking point for some Republicans.
It appeared the bill could get bogged down by GOP-backed amendments in the House, but Republicans withdrew most of them, speeding up debate. In the end, it only took about 20 minutes.
Most lawmakers were happy with the compromise. It passed the House on an 84-10 vote.
“This is a truly well-worked solution to a real problem,” said Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen. “Law enforcement and local governments and the state government can use the technology effectively to prosecute crimes when appropriate, and assure public safety in a good way, and legal way and constitutional way while also protecting individuals’ privacy rights.”
Under the bill, reader data would have to be deleted within 21 days, unless it’s needed for police evidence.
That retention period was originally set at 72 hours, but that was increased early in the legislative process. These periods vary across states that have these regulations. New Hampshire law, for example, says data must be deleted within three minutes of capture. In Georgia, agencies have 30 months to destroy it.
The legislation would largely prohibit police from sharing the information except for in court proceedings. The readers wouldn’t be allowed to be used for civil immigration enforcement, or to be deployed near elementary and secondary schools, churches, courts or food banks.
Under the bill, agencies have to keep a record for two years of when their reader data was accessed.
The data would be exempt from public disclosure except if it’s requested for research. This aims to assuage concerns from some cities that have been rethinking their use of the cameras out of fears they’ll be overloaded with public record requests for reader data, which could also allow anyone to learn the whereabouts of another person’s car. Some worry the footage could then be used to stalk or harass.
By July 1, 2027, the state attorney general would need to develop model policies for the use of automated license plate readers. Agencies would have to adopt them by December that year.
Rep. Brianna Thomas, D-Seattle, thinks the legislation doesn’t go far enough. She was the lone Democrat to join nine Republicans in opposition.
“Establishing any framework at this point for retention, access and sharing is indeed a step forward,” Thomas said. “That said, the bill doesn’t meet the scale of the harms that we are seeing.”
On the other end of the spectrum, Rep. Cyndy Jacobsen, R-Puyallup, thinks the cameras should be allowed around schools to protect children from crimes. She called herself a “soft no” on the legislation.
The Senate will need to pass the revised bill by next Thursday, the last day of the legislative session.
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