Committee deadlocks on bill setting rules for automated license-plate readers, front-plate change fails

A legislative committee considered Senate Bill 1180 on rules for automated license-plate readers and a provision that would exempt vehicles without factory front-plate mounting brackets from a front-plate requirement, but a motion to send the bill to the floor failed on an 8-8 tie.

Representative Monks, the bill’s presenter, told the committee the bill “attempts to provide some guidelines and directions as far as how they could be used, the uses they can be used for, and what they cannot be used for.” He said the bill defines “agency” as a political subdivision of the state of Idaho and limits government use of ALPRs to law-enforcement purposes, traffic-flow analysis, investigations of felonies and misdemeanors, crash reconstruction and searches for missing or endangered persons.

The bill would bar use of ALPR data for non–law-enforcement purposes, require privacy protections, mandate training, and provide for audits. Representative Monks said audits would be conducted twice a year. He also described the change to front-plate law in the bill: “If the vehicle is equipped with a front license-plate mounting bracket, that's when you have to…