D.C. License Plate Reader (ALPR) Laws (2026)

The District of Columbia has very little ALPR law of its own. One code section, D.C. Code § 50-2443, addresses license plate recognition systems, and it sets no limits on police use itself: it directs the Mayor to issue rules, framed around agencies that use these systems for parking or moving-violation enforcement, including security procedures and a usage and privacy policy for LPRS information. The operating rules for police readers come from a Metropolitan Police Department policy, General Order GO-OPS-303.09, which is a department policy and not a statute.

Information reviewed September 30, 2026.

For related pages, see the District of Columbia entry in the state comparison, the ALPR laws hub, Are Flock cameras legal?, What are Flock cameras?, and our District of Columbia surveillance camera laws guide.

What does D.C. Code § 50-2443 actually do?

The section, created by D.C. Law 25-325 § 113 (May 2, 2025), requires the Mayor, within one year after the section's applicability date, to issue rules. Those rules must put all District agencies equipped with license plate recognition systems for parking or moving-violation enforcement on the same database, maximize transmission of information to the Department that may help locate immobilization-eligible vehicles, maintain reasonable security procedures, and implement a usage and privacy policy. The policy must ensure that "the collection, use, maintenance, sharing, and dissemination of LPRS information is consistent with respect to individuals' privacy and civil liberties."

The section sets no retention period, no permitted-purpose list, no limits on sharing, and no penalty. It is also placed in Chapter 24A, Parking Enforcement Modernization, so it should not be read as a general statute governing police plate readers.

The code defines the system in § 50-2431(8) as a device that "is capable of recording data on, or taking a photograph of, a vehicle or its vehicle identification tag and comparing the collected data and photographs to existing databases for investigative and enforcement purposes." The definition covers handheld, vehicle-mounted, and stationary devices.

How do the timing and the temporary law matter?

D.C. Law 25-325 § 401 made the creation of § 50-2443 subject to inclusion of the law's fiscal effect in an approved budget and financial plan. D.C. Law 26-120, effective May 21, 2026, amended § 401(a) by striking the phrase "Sections 113, 114(b) and 201(c)(2) shall apply" and inserting "Section 201(c)(2) shall apply." The Law Library note to § 50-2443 now says its creation "has been implemented," although the same page still carries an older paragraph saying it has not been implemented.

The amendment is temporary. Law 26-120 states that "[t]his act shall expire after 225 days of its having taken effect." Counting 225 days from May 21, 2026 gives roughly January 1, 2027. The same amendment was enacted permanently in section 5 of D.C. Act 26-344, the Enhancing Consumer Protection Procedures Amendment Act of 2026. That act is pending congressional review and is projected to take effect December 8, 2026, before the temporary law expires. Until it takes effect, check the Law Library for its effective date.

What rules govern police plate readers in practice?

The operating rules are in the Metropolitan Police Department's General Order GO-OPS-303.09, effective April 30, 2026, which replaced the October 28, 2020 version. It is a department policy, not a statute or regulation, so the department can revise it.

Under the order, LPR use is limited to official law enforcement purposes by trained, authorized members. An LPR system "shall never be used for the purpose of tracking or identifying the presence of individuals participating in First Amendment activities who are not engaged in unlawful conduct." An alert does not establish probable cause and hits must be confirmed. Manual entries must be approved by the Real Time Crime Center watch commander and tied to a specific criminal or patrol purpose.

On retention, the order says "[a]ll LPR information contained within any LPR system shall be stored for a period not to exceed 90 days," after which it is automatically purged. Queries are retained four years, except training queries. Once a record is downloaded into an investigative case file, it is governed as investigative information, and litigation-hold data is kept in evidence.com until the litigation ends.

The order also requires an audit trail that records the user name and role, the date and time, the information accessed, and any modification or deletion. The Risk Management Division must "conduct an annual audit by randomly selecting one percent of queries." Use in Washington metropolitan area-wide law enforcement initiatives needs prior written approval of the chief or a designee. Other law enforcement agencies get access only when a formal data-sharing memorandum of understanding is in place, and any inquiry requires a legal basis or reasonable articulable suspicion of criminal activity, relevant information, and an official law enforcement purpose.

Is there a statute that sets D.C. retention or sharing limits?

Not according to the sources reviewed. A keyword search of a snapshot of the codified D.C. Code (dated May 19, 2026, covering 24,696 section and index files across all 55 title folders) for terms such as license plate reader, license plate recognition, LPRS, and ALPR matched only two files: § 50-2431, the definition, and § 50-2443. The search was a keyword search over a snapshot, so a differently worded provision would be missed, and the D.C. Municipal Regulations were not searched for rules the Mayor may have issued under § 50-2443.

The 90-day figure above is therefore a police policy figure and not a statutory retention period.

Can you request ALPR records in the District?

The D.C. Freedom of Information Act lets an agency withhold investigatory records compiled for law-enforcement purposes "but only to the extent that the production of such records would" cause a listed harm, such as interfering with enforcement proceedings, depriving a person of a fair trial, or constituting an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. The exemption is in § 2-534(a)(3). MPD policy says public and media LPR requests are handled under its FOIA general orders.

No D.C. statute, opinion, or court decision was found that specifically decides whether raw ALPR data is disclosable.

What has D.C. oversight said in the past?

On September 25, 2020, the D.C. Police Complaints Board released a report to the Mayor, the Council, and MPD on ALPR privacy and transparency. It described MPD's then-current policy, under which "[t]he data is stored on patrol car mobile data computers for 30 days and then the system overwrites the data," with up to 90 days on main computers. It recommended public processes for individuals to obtain their own data. This is historical context only, because the policy it describes predates both the October 2020 and April 2026 versions of the general order.

What have courts decided?

A search of District of Columbia court and federal D.C. opinions for license plate reader terms returned nine opinions that mention the technology as an investigative fact. None of the opinions found decides whether ALPR collection or querying is a Fourth Amendment search or interprets § 50-2443. The snippets and first mentions were read, not the full opinions.

What local decision has been recorded?

The one deployment record identified is the Metropolitan Police Department's Flock program. A Washington Sun report published August 28, 2026 says MPD signed a one-year contract for 67 Flock cameras in December 2024, has used them since early 2025, and extended the contract through the end of 2026. The list is not complete, and the status can change.

How can you check the system?

Because the operating rules are a department policy, the current General Order is the first document to read, and its revision date matters. To learn what the Mayor's rules under § 50-2443 say, check the D.C. Municipal Regulations, which this page did not search. Use D.C. FOIA to ask MPD for the policy, contracts, or audit summaries, keeping in mind that a request for individual plate records faces the law-enforcement exemption. Also check that D.C. Act 26-344, which makes the Law 26-120 change permanent, took effect as projected on December 8, 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Last updated: September 30, 2026. Sources were reviewed September 29-30, 2026; the temporary law's expiry date is computed from its stated 225-day term, and D.C. Act 26-344's December 8, 2026 effective date is the Law Library's projection.

A general District statute also limits sharing with immigration agencies, although it never mentions plate readers. Under D.C. Code § 24-211.07(a)(4)(B), absent a judicial warrant or order from a federal Article III judge or a federal magistrate judge authorizing custody of the person, and except for people facing or serving federal criminal charges, the District shall not "[p]rovide to a federal immigration agency an individual's date and time of release, location, address, personal identifying information, medical information, photograph, or criminal case information." The section sits in the Department of Corrections part of the Code, it says it creates no private right of action and does not restrict cooperation required by federal law or sharing covered by 8 U.S.C. § 1373, and this page does not decide whether it reaches MPD plate reader records.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the District of Columbia have an ALPR law?

It has one code section, D.C. Code section 50-2443, which directs the Mayor to issue rules framed around license plate recognition systems used for parking or moving-violation enforcement. It does not itself set retention, permitted-purpose, or sharing rules.

How long does D.C. police keep license plate reader data?

Under MPD General Order GO-OPS-303.09, effective April 30, 2026, LPR information is stored no more than 90 days, then automatically purged. That is a department policy, not a statute.

Is D.C. Law 26-120 permanent?

No. It is a temporary act that expires 225 days after taking effect on May 21, 2026, roughly January 1, 2027. The Council enacted the same change permanently in D.C. Act 26-344, which is pending congressional review and projected to take effect December 8, 2026.

Do D.C. police audit plate reader searches?

The General Order requires an audit trail and an annual audit by the Risk Management Division of a random one percent of queries.