The bill creates a new chapter in Title 10 RCW that regulates automated license plate reader (ALPR) systems and establishes driver privacy protections. It makes it unlawful for any state or local agency to access, operate, or use an ALPR or its data except for specific, enumerated purposes: law enforcement comparisons to specified watch lists or manually entered plates for investigations of stolen vehicles, missing or endangered persons, outstanding felony warrants, or felonies; parking enforcement for time limits and certain impoundment lists; operation of authorized photo toll systems; transportation uses for real-time public traffic information, traffic modeling or studies, and commercial vehicle enforcement at Washington State Patrol sites. The bill also prohibits ALPR use for immigration investigations, activities related to protected health care, tracking or monitoring activity protected by the Washington Constitution or the First Amendment, and collection of ALPR data on or immediately around certain protected facilities such as health care providers, immigration facilities, schools, places of worship, courts, and food banks. The bill imposes procedural and recordkeeping requirements: agencies that operate or continue using ALPRs must register systems with the Attorney General within 180 days of the effective date, certify compliance, maintain governing policies and training, keep an audit trail of all ALPR access and actions, and retain audit trail data for two years. General ALPR data retention is limited to 72 hours with specified exceptions (longer retention for court-ordered probable cause warrants or subpoenas, longer or shorter limits for parking, tolling, traffic studies, and commercial vehicle enforcement as enumerated). A positive ALPR match alone does not create reasonable suspicion for a stop; officers must develop independent reasonable suspicion or immediately visually confirm the plate and that it is on an authorized list. ALPR data is generally exempt from public records disclosure with a narrow research exception, and information obtained in violation of the chapter is inadmissible in civil or criminal proceedings except as noted for civil damages actions. The bill creates new reporting, audit, and enforcement mechanisms: the Attorney General is to develop and publish model policies (deadline referenced in the text), agencies using ALPRs must adopt or explain departures from those policies by specified deadlines and submit annual publicly posted reports to the legislature detailing system use and impacts, and agencies must conduct internal audits at least annually while the state auditor may audit compliance. Willfully and intentionally using or disclosing ALPR data for unauthorized purposes or willfully violating retention/sharing prohibitions is a gross misdemeanor, and persons injured by violations may bring civil actions for equitable relief and monetary damages with potential recovery of costs and attorneys’ fees. The act is declared necessary for immediate preservation of public peace, health, or safety and takes effect immediately. Some details are incomplete or missing from the extracted text, including the new chapter number, the full text of the Attorney General’s model policies, and any additional provisions or the complete text of section 11 referenced in the bill.

If enacted, agencies that operate or access automated license plate readers will face immediate new limits and administrative duties: they must register systems with the attorney general, follow model policies the attorney general will publish (and adopt or explain any departures by December 1, 2027), keep detailed audit logs for two years and run annual internal audits, publish a yearly public report with specific use metrics, and follow much shorter default data‑retention times (generally 72 hours, with specific shorter or longer windows for parking, tolling, traffic studies, commercial vehicle enforcement, and court-authorized cases). Operationally this will narrow where and how ALPRs can be used (for example no collection near schools, places of worship, courts, certain health and immigration facilities, or for immigration enforcement), require daily upkeep of watch lists, require public notice before local deployment, and prevent relying on an ALPR hit alone to justify a stop. The groups most affected are state and local agencies, law enforcement, parking and transportation agencies, and ALPR vendors. Expect added ongoing costs and staff time for registration, policy adoption, audits, reporting, vendor controls, and log retention; agencies also face new legal risks from willful misuse (a criminal gross misdemeanor under the act) and private lawsuits or consumer‑protection enforcement for violations. Some important implementation details are not included in the provided text—full model policies, the exact contents of the damages section, and the new chapter number are missing—so the practical burden and some liability rules could depend on those unresolved provisions.