Arizona has no statute regulating Automated License Plate Readers. Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, Phoenix Police, and Scottsdale PD operate Flock Safety and Vigilant ALPR networks. Data retention varies from 30 days to one year by agency policy, with no statewide oversight.
Unlike California (Civil Code 1798.90.5) or New Hampshire, Arizona has no law governing ALPR use, retention, or sharing. MCSO operates fixed and mobile ALPR cameras under sheriff policy directives. Phoenix Police uses Flock Safety with thousands of cameras and 30-day retention by default. Scottsdale, Mesa, Chandler, and Tempe police run their own Flock or Vigilant systems. Data is shared through the federally-funded Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center. Hot-list hits trigger officer alerts. ACLU Arizona has flagged retention and sharing concerns. Pending HB 2128 (2026) would require warrants for ALPR queries and 30-day retention caps. Civil traffic violations cannot be enforced via ALPR under ARS 28-654 photo-enforcement preemption.
No state penalty exists for unauthorized ALPR use. Officer misuse of ALPR data may violate ARS 13-2316 computer tampering (Class 6 felony) or ARS 41-1750 criminal-history misuse (Class 5 felony). Civil suits under federal Section 1983 remain possible.
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