House Judiciary Committee advances $1 million to expand license-plate readers

The House Judiciary Committee advanced House Bill 127, a measure to fund expansion of license-plate reader (LPR) systems for law enforcement, after testimony that the devices help locate stolen vehicles, missing children and suspects.

Supporters told the committee the technology provides precise, actionable alerts that improve investigations and officer safety. Representative Chatfield, sponsor of the bill, said the devices “are a wonderful tool” that have helped track abducted children and disrupt drug trafficking. Captain Clay Gorritt of the New Mexico State Police said LPRs have been a “game changer” for recovering stolen vehicles and finding people in crisis. Carolyn Wynne of the New Mexico State Police and Enrique Nell of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce also testified in support.

The bill would provide roughly $1 million to expand the state’s LPR capacity. Committee testimony said a $1 million appropriation would buy about 24 fixed camera sites, including associated costs for four to five years of operation, and supplement existing fixed, mobile and dash-mounted systems in use now.

Committee members pressed officials about how data are stored, shared and retained. Captain Gorritt said the state police own the LPR data, which are stored in a cloud “tenant” run with the vendor system the agency uses, and are shared with roughly 528 law-enforcement agencies nationwide, including some federal partners such as the FBI and DEA. He said the LPR data are maintained under criminal-justice information systems (CJIS) policies and NCIC-related processes and “are law enforcement only” and not accessible to commercial entities. The agency’s retention policy was described as 30 days minimum and up to 180 days when alerts occur; alerts that become evidence are maintained in the evidence management system until case adjudication.

Several members raised civil‑liberties concerns. Representative McQueen said he was worried about potential misuse, saying, “knowing where everyone is at all times can solve a lot of crimes, but it can also be abused.” Officials replied that human review is built into alert handling and that supervisors approve additions to hot lists; Captain Gorritt said plate images are compared against hot lists (stolen vehicles, Amber/Silver alerts, wanted persons) and that the system records plates rather than identifying a named individual directly.

A motion for a due‑pass recommendation on House Bill 127 was made by Speaker Martinez and seconded by Representative Martinez. During the roll call several members were recorded voting yes (Representative Abeyta, Representative Chavez, Representative Hall, Representative Martinez, Representative Reed, Leader Supanski and the vice chair among them) and Representative McQueen recorded a no vote and provided an explanation on the floor. The committee chair later announced the bill had a due pass recommendation.

Supporters said the technology helps solve violent crimes and recover stolen vehicles quickly; opponents and some members urged continued review of privacy limits and data‑sharing rules. Officials noted that access outside law enforcement would require legal process such as a subpoena.

The bill will move forward with the committee’s due‑pass recommendation to the next legislative stage.