Can an Arkansas city, county, or private business legally use automatic license plate readers (ALPRs)?

Plain-English summary

Representative Mark Berry asked whether local governments and private businesses may use automatic license plate readers, or ALPRs. The AG said Arkansas law generally prohibits ALPR systems but permits four categories of use: specified law-enforcement database comparisons, parking enforcement, access control for a secured area, and Arkansas Highway Police verification of registration, logs, and related data.

For a city or county, the answer depends on both the entity and its purpose. The opinion gives a municipal parking-enforcement division as an example of permitted parking use. Other local entities that are neither law enforcement nor parking enforcement may use ALPRs only for secured-area access control. The statute defines a secured area by clear boundaries, limited public access, and specific entry points.

The AG answered that private businesses and other nonpublic entities cannot use ALPRs for any purpose they choose; their use remains confined to the statutory categories. He did not analyze a particular repossession practice, data source, retention period, or gated subdivision.

What this means for you

Local governments and parking operators

The opinion requires a match between the proposed ALPR use and one of the statutory categories. The AG expressly identifies local law-enforcement comparisons, municipal parking enforcement, and secured-area access as possible local uses under their stated conditions.

Private businesses

The request mentioned businesses seeking to track and repossess vehicles. The answer says private entities have only limited permissible uses. It does not declare a specific business's conduct lawful or unlawful based on how plate data was obtained or shared.

Common questions

Can a city use ALPRs for parking enforcement?
Yes, if the entity is a parking-enforcement division using the system to regulate parking, as in the AG's example.

What qualifies as a secured area?
The quoted statutory definition requires clear boundaries, access limited from the public, and entry through specific access-control points. The AG did not apply it to a particular subdivision or facility.

Did the AG set a data-retention period?
No. The opinion does not discuss retention.

Background and statutory framework

A.C.A. § 12-12-1803(a) states the general prohibition. Subsection (b) lists the four permitted categories. A.C.A. § 12-12-1802(5) defines a secured area. The AG applies those provisions to local government and private-entity questions without deciding facts about a specific installation.

Citations

• A.C.A. § 12-12-1802(5); § 12-12-1803(a)–(b)

Source

• Landing page: https://arkansasag.gov/divisions/opinions-foia/attorney-general-opinions-search/

Original opinion text

Opinion No. 2023-091

December 5, 2023

The Honorable Mark H. Berry
State Representative
Post Office Box 1205
Ozark, Arkansas 72949

Dear Representative Berry:
I am writing in response to your request for my opinion on questions concerning automatic license plate readers. You report that certain private business in your district have sought to use these readers to track and repossess certain vehicles, but there is confusion as to what the law allows.

Against this background, you ask the following two questions:

1. Pursuant to Arkansas law, can a city, county, or other municipal entity utilize automatic license plate readers?

Brief answer: The answer to your question depends on the entity and the purpose for which it intends to use an automatic license plate reader.

2. Pursuant to Arkansas law, can private businesses or other non-public entities utilize automatic license plate readers for any purpose?

Brief answer: No, Arkansas law only allows private entities to use automatic license plate readers for certain limited purposes.

DISCUSSION

Question 1: Pursuant to Arkansas law, can a city, county, or other municipal entity utilize automatic license plate readers?

Arkansas law generally prohibits the use of automatic license plate reader (ALPR) systems. 1 Such systems may only be used in the following circumstances:

• State, county, and municipal law enforcement agencies may use ALPR systems to compare captured plate data with data held by “the Office of Motor Vehicle, the

1
See A.C.A. § 12-12-1803(a).
The Honorable Mark H. Berry
State Representative
Opinion No. 2023-091
Page 2

Arkansas Crime Information Center, the National Crime Information Center, a database created by law enforcement for the purposes of an ongoing investigation, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for any lawful purpose”;

• Parking-enforcement entities may use ALPR systems to regulate parking;

• ALPR systems may be used to control access to secured areas; and

• The Arkansas Highway Police may use ALPR systems to electronically verify registration, logs, and other compliance data. 2

The answer to your question will therefore depend on the nature of the entity and its reason for using an ALPR system. If the entity is a local law enforcement agency, it may use an ALPR system for certain limited purposes, like conducting an ongoing investigation. If the entity is, for example, the parking enforcement division of a municipal public works department, it could use an ALPR system to regulate parking. But other local governmental entities that cannot be categorized as law enforcement or parking enforcement are prohibited from using ALPR systems unless the purpose falls into the third category: controlling access to a secured area. 3 A “secured area” is defined as “an area, enclosed by clear boundaries, to which access is limited and not open to the public, and entry is obtainable only through specific access-control points.” 4 Thus, to the extent that a city, county, or other municipal entity needs to control access to such an area, its use of an ALPR system would be lawful. But other uses of the ALPR system would be prohibited.

Question 2: Pursuant to Arkansas law, can private businesses or other non-public entities utilize automatic license plate readers for any purpose?

No, Arkansas law does not allow private businesses or other non-public entities to use ALPR systems for “any purpose.” The lawful users of ALPRs are restricted in the manner I noted in response to your first question.

Senior Assistant Attorney General Kelly Summerside prepared this opinion, which I hereby approve.

Sincerely,

TIM GRIFFIN
Attorney General

2
A.C.A. § 12-12-1803(b).
3
Because the fourth bullet point listed above pertains to the Arkansas Highway Police, it is not relevant to your question about city, county, or other municipal entities’ use of ALPR systems. 4 A.C.A. § 12-12-1802(5).