Commonwealth of Virginia (statewide), VA

Governor Glenn Youngkin signed HB 2724 on May 2, 2025, enacting Virginia's first statutory framework restricting law enforcement use of automated license plate readers, now codified at Va. Code § 2.2-5517 and effective July 1, 2025. The law requires ALPR data to be purged within 21 days of capture in a manner that makes it unrecoverable by either the vendor or the agency, and limits use to criminal investigations supported by reasonable suspicion, missing or endangered person investigations including human trafficking, and receipt of notifications about missing persons, outstanding warrants, human trafficking, or stolen vehicles and plates. The General Assembly rejected Youngkin's proposed amendments, which would have extended the retention limit to 30 days and stripped the bill's reenactment clause, and returned the bill as originally passed.

What moved this decision

Legislative concern about indefinite retention of bulk plate data
Sen. Barbara Favola’s amendment adding a reenactment clause, driven by concern that highway data could be requested by other states to track people seeking abortions
Legislature’s refusal to accept the Governor’s weakening amendments

What happened afterwards

The 21-day purge requirement and use limits took effect July 1, 2025 and bind every law enforcement agency in the Commonwealth. Misuse by law enforcement is a Class 1 misdemeanor and agencies must file annual de-identified usage reports beginning April 2027. The provision permitting agencies to install ALPRs on state rights-of-way was made contingent on reenactment by the 2026 General Assembly, deliberately forcing a second vote before any highway expansion.

What we still don’t know

These are the records we would need to describe this decision completely. If you can help obtain them, or already have them, get in touch.

Whether the 2026 General Assembly reenacted the state right-of-way permit provision, which would permit ALPR expansion onto Virginia highways
Whether the 21-day purge is being verified in practice, particularly against vendor-held cloud copies
How the statute interacts with Schmidt v. City of Norfolk, the Institute for Justice Fourth Amendment challenge now at the Fourth Circuit (No. 26-1227)