Illinois License Plate Reader Laws

Status at a glance

Who the law covers

Section 2-130 defines an ALPR as a device on a law enforcement vehicle or in a fixed location that records vehicle or plate data and compares it to law enforcement databases. That includes “a device that is owned or operated by a person or an entity other than a law enforcement agency to the extent that data collected by the reader is shared with a law enforcement agency.” An “ALPR user” is anyone who owns or operates an ALPR device, so the sharing limits can reach private owners whose data goes to police. See private and HOA cameras.

Sharing limits

• An ALPR user “shall not sell, share, allow access to, or transfer ALPR information to any state or local jurisdiction for the purpose of investigating or enforcing a law that” denies or interferes with the right to reproductive health care or lawful health care services, or “permits the detention or investigation of a person based on the person’s immigration status” (subsection (b)).
• Any ALPR user in Illinois, including agencies using ALPR systems, “shall not share ALPR information with an out-of-state law enforcement agency without first obtaining a written declaration” that the information won’t be used in violation of subsection (b). Without the declaration, the agency “shall not share” (subsection (c)).
• “ALPR information shall be held confidentially to the fullest extent permitted by law” (subsection (d)).

For how cross-state searches work on networks like Flock’s, see can police search Flock data from other states?

What the statute doesn’t address

The text of § 2-130 we reviewed focuses on sharing and confidentiality. It doesn’t set a statewide retention period, a rule on alert-based stops, or a remedy for violations in criminal cases. Retention and use rules therefore come largely from agency policy and other law.

An example: Darien’s policy

The Darien Police Department’s Policy 434 is one agency’s approach:

• Data is retained for seven days unless saved as evidence, or preserved because it is or may become evidence or is subject to a discovery request.
• The software setting that permits out-of-state agencies to access Darien’s data “is turned off.”
• Members may not run repeated historical searches to locate someone solely for license or registration issues or petty traffic offenses.
• When practicable, members must verify an alert through the appropriate agency before enforcement action based solely on it.
• Audits are to be conducted monthly.
• Data requests from non-law-enforcement, non-prosecutorial agencies are not honored.

Other Illinois agencies may set different retention periods and rules.

What this can mean in an Illinois case

• Was ALPR data shared with or obtained from an out-of-state agency? If so, was a written declaration obtained first?
• What retention period and verification rules did the local agency’s policy set?
• Did the data come from a privately owned camera shared with police?

For records in your case, see requesting ALPR records in discovery.