Summary:

 Senate Bill 71 (SB 71) enacts the Automatic License Plate Reader Act which governs how law enforcement investigations use license plate data.   

Legislation Overview:

 Senate Bill 71 (SB 71) enacts the Automatic License Plate Reader Act (Act).  The Act pertains to automatic license plate reader systems (“system”), which are cameras attached to law enforcement vehicles or mounted on street poles, highway overpasses or mobile trailers and are used to convert images of license plates into license plate data (“data”).  License plate data includes a photo of the vehicle, driver or passengers, the GPS coordinates, and the date and time of travel. 
The Act authorizes a law enforcement agency to use data from the system for investigatory purposes.  For example, an agency can compare data from the system with data from the Motor Vehicle Division, the New Mexico Criminal Justice Information System, the National Crime Information Center, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the New Mexico Missing Persons Clearinghouse, the Department of Homeland Security Watchlist Service, and the state or federal Department of Transportation Commercial Vehicle Compliance Database. 
The Act requires data to be entered into the system and compared with state and federal law enforcement databases if an officer determines that a vehicle is: (1) unregistered, uninsured or stolen; (2) registered to a person who has a New Mexico felony warrant, is associated with a missing person, or is committing a felony; (3) a commercial vehicle that is unsafe, has contraband or not registered; or (4) parked illegally in an area not open to the public.  
Data in the system can only be kept for a certain amount of time, ranging from 14 days to one year if there is an alert that the vehicle may be connected to a criminal or missing persons investigation. Law enforcement agencies who use this system must protect the data collected and must adopt a policy that prohibits: (1) sharing of the data with third parties unless the parties have polices that conform to this Act; (2) selling or making available the data to non-law enforcement officers or agencies; (3) sharing of data by third-party vendors; and (4) collection of data that is not defined as “license plate data” in the Act. 
Law enforcement agencies who use this system must have rules in place regarding retaining and deleting the data and report annually to the legislature on the use of the system. 
The bill forbids a law enforcement agency from using the system to target people, groups or locations based on race, ethnicity, national origin, ancestry, religion, age, handicap, medical condition, sex, spousal affiliation, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy or pregnancy-related condition. 
Lastly, the Act provides that license plate data is confidential and not subject to inspection under the Inspection of Public Records Act.  However, data can be disclosed to the person to whom the vehicle is registered, unless there is an order of protection for the driver of the vehicle.