Kootenai County OKs one-year ALPR software amendment with 30-day data-retention limit

Kootenai County commissioners voted March 11 to approve an amendment to the county's automated license-plate reader (ALPR) software contract with Motorola, adopting a one-year term and limiting routine ALPR data retention to 30 days.

The change passed on a 2-1 vote after a lengthy discussion that included public comment expressing privacy concerns. "I definitely see how they can have a lot of benefit for law enforcement but the trend is that once something's in it's never going away," resident Rochelle Addison told commissioners during the public-comment period, urging them to "vote against releasing the funds."

Lieutenant Eric Hedlund of the sheriff's office described the contract amendment as the product of legal review and administrative safeguards. He said the county had required a one-year agreement, legal review by the county attorney, and Motorola's China-related compliance paperwork. Hedlund said the sheriff's office and previous sheriffs agreed to reduce the ALPR data-retention window from one year to 30 days for routine retention, "to really kind of limit that portion of the data collection and storage, which will help with shorter term investigations." He added that the system was intended to provide short-term investigative leads and officer safety alerts, not long-term surveillance.

Commissioners debated the civil-liberty implications and the operational value of the readers. Commissioner Eberlein described fixed readers as more likely to build travel patterns and called them a potential path to a "surveillance state." Commissioner Duncan said he preferred no data collection but supported a one-year pilot with a 30-day retention during the trial and requested audits or verifiable means to confirm data purges. Chair Metoyer and other commissioners said they sought a balance between public safety and civil liberties, and said they expected the sheriff's office to demonstrate the program's value during the one-year trial.

The motion to approve the amendment passed with Commissioner Avalon voting "nay," Commissioner Duncan voting "aye," and Chair Metoyer voting "aye." The board directed the sheriff's office to report results and to provide evidence of retention and purge practices during the one-year period.

The discussion also distinguished mobile ALPR units mounted on patrol cars from fixed-location readers. Commissioners and staff noted mobile readers capture plate reads only when a patrol car passes a plate, making long-term tracking harder than with fixed readers at intersections.

The board did not adopt any additional statutory requirement at the meeting; commissioners said they would re-evaluate after the one-year period and could decline to continue funding if the sheriff's office could not show community benefit.

Ending: The one-year amendment takes effect after formal execution of the contract documents. The sheriff's office is expected to provide periodic reports to the board during the trial year, including audit information to confirm the 30-day purge policy.