Automatic license plate recognition systems; use, reports, penalty.

Use of automatic license plate recognition systems; reports; penalty. Requires the Division of Purchases and Supply of the Department of General Services (the Division) to determine and approve the automatic license plate recognition systems, defined in the bill, for use in the Commonwealth and provides requirements for use of such systems by law-enforcement agencies. The bill limits the use of such systems by law-enforcement agencies to the following purposes: (i) as part of a criminal investigation into an alleged criminal violation of the Code of Virginia or any ordinance of any county, city, or town where there is a reasonable suspicion that a crime was committed; (ii) as part of an active investigation related to a missing or endangered person, including whether to issue an alert for such person, or a person associated with human trafficking; or (iii) to receive notifications related to a missing or endangered person, a person with an outstanding warrant, a person associated with human trafficking, a stolen vehicle, or a stolen license plate.The bill requires annual reports from law-enforcement agencies using such systems that provide de-identified information concerning the use of the systems and from the State Police that aggregate such information statewide beginning April 1, 2027. The bill also requires a law-enforcement officer or State Police officer to collect data on whether a stop of a driver of a motor vehicle or stop or temporary detention of a person was based on a notification from an automatic license plate recognition system prior to such stop and if so, the specific reason for the notification as set forth in relevant law.The provisions of the bill that require a law-enforcement agency to obtain a permit from the Department of Transportation in accordance with regulations of the Commonwealth Transportation Board before installing an automatic license plate recognition system on a state right-of-way do not become effective unless reenacted by the 2026 Session of the General Assembly. Except for provisions requiring (a) the Division to determine and approve automatic license plate recognition systems for use in the Commonwealth, which shall become effective on July 1, 2026, and (b) law-enforcement officers to collect data on whether a stop was based on a notification from an automatic license plate recognition system, which shall become effective January 1, 2026, the provisions of the bill become effective in due course. The bill requires the Division, in consultation with the Virginia Information Technologies Agency, to determine such systems for use in the Commonwealth and publicly post a list of such systems by January 1, 2026. Finally, the bill requires the Virginia State Crime Commission to collect data and conduct surveys of law-enforcement agencies to assess the use of automatic license plate recognition systems and report its findings by the first day of the 2026 Regular Session and again on November 1, 2026. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Virginia State Crime Commission.