District of Columbia License Plate Reader Laws

Status at a glance

The only plate reader statute: parking enforcement

The District’s one statute on license plate readers is narrow. D.C. Code § 50-2443, “License plate recognition systems; usage and privacy,” sits in Chapter 24A, “Parking Enforcement Modernization.” It was created by D.C. Law 25-325 (May 2, 2025). It doesn’t regulate police use of ALPRs in criminal investigations.

The section doesn’t set rules itself. It says that within one year after its applicability date, “the Mayor shall issue rules” to:

• ensure that “all District agencies equipped with LPRS for enforcement of parking or moving violations utilize the same database of information”;
• help those agencies send information that may assist in locating immobilization-eligible vehicles;
• keep reasonable security safeguards to protect LPRS information from unauthorized access, use or disclosure; and
• “Implement a usage and privacy policy in order to ensure that the collection, use, maintenance, sharing, and dissemination of LPRS information is consistent with respect to individuals’ privacy and civil liberties.”

Section 50-2431(8) defines LPRS as a device that can record data on, or photograph, a vehicle or its tag and compare it “to existing databases for investigative and enforcement purposes.” Even so, § 50-2443 is aimed at agencies enforcing parking and moving violations. It sets no retention period, sharing limit, stop rule, audit rule or penalty. We didn’t check whether the Mayor has issued the rules.

Is § 50-2443 in effect?

The official D.C. Code page carries notes that point in different directions:

• One says D.C. Law 26-120 amended the applicability provision, and “Therefore the creation of this section by §113 of Law 25-325 has been implemented.”
• Another says the section’s creation “is subject to the inclusion of the law’s fiscal effect in an approved budget and financial plan. Therefore that amendment has not been implemented.”
• A third points to a temporary (225 days) amendment by D.C. Law 26-120 (May 21, 2026).

We can’t resolve this from the page alone, so we list it as not verified.

MPD’s ALPR policy, as reported in 2020

We couldn’t retrieve the Metropolitan Police Department’s own ALPR order. What we have is a description of it by the D.C. Police Complaints Board in PCB Policy Report #20-2. The report is undated but records an MPD statement from September 14, 2020. Everything below is as reported in 2020. Current MPD practice is unverified.

• The order. The report cites “MPD General Order 303.09: License Plate Reader Program (Effective Date March 28, 2014).”
• Retention. Patrol car computers stored ALPR data for up to 30 days before it was overwritten. “The same information is stored at MPD for up to 90 days and then destroyed.”
• Sharing. MPD told the Office of Police Complaints it didn’t share LPR data with private entities, had a memorandum of understanding only with the U.S. Secret Service, and would share with other law enforcement agencies on request.
• Recommendations. The board recommended, among other things, that MPD disclose safeguards against misuse, such as “an audit schedule to detect any unauthorized access or sharing.”

A 2024 Office of the D.C. Auditor release on a national assessment of MPD lists “License Plate Reader Program – General Order 303.09” among MPD’s technology policies. It doesn’t give retention figures. See ALPR data retention and sharing.

What this can mean in a D.C. case

• Was the data captured by MPD or by a parking or transportation agency, and which rules applied to that agency?
• What does the current version of MPD General Order 303.09 say about retention and sharing? See requesting ALPR records in discovery.
• Did the data come from another agency’s cameras or a federal partner? See can police search Flock data from other states?
• Have rules under § 50-2443 been issued, and do they cover the system that captured the data?