Can an Arkansas city, county, or private business legally use automatic license plate readers (ALPRs)?
Plain-English summary
Representative Mark Berry asked the Attorney General two questions about ALPRs (automatic license plate readers): can local governments use them, and can private businesses use them? The trigger was that some private businesses in his district wanted to deploy ALPRs to find and repossess vehicles, and there was confusion about whether that was allowed.
The AG's answer comes from a single statute, A.C.A. § 12-12-1803, that flips the default from "permitted" to "prohibited." Arkansas law starts by banning ALPR systems outright. It then carves out four narrow exceptions:
- Law-enforcement database checks. State, county, and municipal law-enforcement agencies may use ALPRs to compare captured plate data against the Office of Motor Vehicle, the Arkansas Crime Information Center (ACIC), the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), an investigation-specific law-enforcement database, or the FBI for any lawful purpose.
- Parking enforcement. A parking-enforcement entity may use ALPRs to regulate parking.
- Secured-area access control. Anyone may use an ALPR to control access to a "secured area," 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." (A.C.A. § 12-12-1802(5).)
- Arkansas Highway Police. The AHP may use ALPRs to electronically verify registration, logs, and other compliance data.
Everything else is prohibited. So a municipal public-works department running a parking division could use an ALPR for parking control. A municipal law-enforcement agency could use one to check a plate against ACIC during an investigation. But a city could not deploy ALPRs around town for general surveillance or to track residents. And no private business, including a vehicle repossession company, may use ALPRs to track or recover vehicles. The four exceptions are an exclusive list, and nothing in the statute authorizes private repossession use.
What this means for you
Cities, counties, and other local governments
Before installing ALPRs, identify which exception authorizes the use. If it does not fit one of the four (law-enforcement database queries, parking enforcement, secured-area access control, AHP), the use is prohibited under Arkansas law.
The "secured area" exception is narrower than it sounds. It requires "clear boundaries," limited access not open to the public, and entry only through specific access-control points. That fits a public-works yard, a fenced impound lot, or a treatment-plant gate. It does not fit "the area around city hall" or "downtown."
If a vendor pitches an ALPR system as a deterrence tool or for general traffic-pattern monitoring, that use is not within any of the four exceptions even if it is wrapped in law-enforcement language. The statute requires the captured data to be compared against one of the listed databases, not just collected and stored.
Law-enforcement agencies
Your authority to use ALPRs is limited to comparing captured plate data with specifically listed databases (OMV, ACIC, NCIC, an investigation-created law-enforcement database, or the FBI). Building a long-term plate-history database that is queried independently of those listed sources is not within the statutory grant.
Audit the vendor's data-retention defaults before deployment. Some commercial ALPR systems retain plate reads for months or years by default; the Arkansas statute does not authorize that long-tail use, so your retention policy needs to be written to match the statute's narrower scope.
Private business owners and vehicle repossessors
The opinion is unambiguous: Arkansas law does not allow private businesses or other non-public entities to use ALPRs for "any purpose." That includes repossession companies tracking vehicles for recovery. If your business currently uses an ALPR for these purposes, the AG's view is that the use is unlawful in Arkansas regardless of how the data is sourced or shared.
Repossession agents who currently rely on commercial ALPR networks (or networks operated by tow-yard partners) should consult Arkansas counsel before continuing those operations in this state.
Parking-lot operators
A parking-enforcement entity may use ALPRs to regulate parking. That covers municipal parking divisions and likely private parking-lot operators acting in a parking-enforcement role. The opinion addresses municipal use directly and does not parse the private parking-operator question, so the safer reading for a private parking operator is to confirm how the activity fits A.C.A. § 12-12-1803 with counsel before deploying.
Privacy advocates
This opinion is a useful reference whenever an Arkansas locality proposes a citywide ALPR network for general surveillance. The statute as the AG reads it is restrictive by design: a default ban with narrow exceptions, not a default permission with carve-outs.
Common questions
Are ALPRs banned outright in Arkansas?
No. Their use is generally prohibited but four narrow exceptions allow law enforcement, parking enforcement, secured-area access control, and the Arkansas Highway Police to use them.
Can my homeowners association use ALPRs at the gate?
If the association controls access to a "secured area" (clear boundaries, not open to the public, entry only through specific access-control points), that fits the secured-area exception. A typical gated subdivision likely qualifies; an HOA pool or playground in an open neighborhood would not.
Can a tow company or repo company use an ALPR?
The AG says no. The statute does not include private vehicle recovery in any of the four exceptions, and the AG concluded that private entities cannot use ALPRs "for any purpose" outside those exceptions.
What if a city contracts with a private ALPR vendor?
The vendor is not the user; the city is. The relevant question is whether the city's use fits an exception. If yes, the contract is permissible. If no, the city cannot use a private vendor as a workaround.
What about ALPRs at airports or military bases?
Federally controlled facilities operate under federal authority. The Arkansas statute regulates state and local actors. A federal facility's ALPR use is governed by federal rules.
Does this opinion bind the legislature?
No. The General Assembly could amend A.C.A. § 12-12-1803 at any time to add or remove exceptions. The AG opinion interprets the statute as it currently stands.
Background and statutory framework
A.C.A. § 12-12-1803(a). Default rule: ALPR systems may not be used in Arkansas.
A.C.A. § 12-12-1803(b). Four exceptions to the default ban: (1) state, county, and municipal law-enforcement use to compare against listed databases; (2) parking-enforcement use; (3) secured-area access control; (4) Arkansas Highway Police compliance verification.
A.C.A. § 12-12-1802(5). "Secured area" 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."
The AG followed the plain text. Because the statute's structure is "ban + listed exceptions," anything not on the list is prohibited.
Citations
- A.C.A. § 12-12-1802(5) (definition of secured area)
- A.C.A. § 12-12-1803(a) (general ALPR ban)
- A.C.A. § 12-12-1803(b) (exceptions to ALPR ban)
Source
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:
- 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.
- 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. 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 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.
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. 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." 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