The Joint Rules Committee on [date not specified in transcript] approved a policy governing Statehouse security cameras that sets a 14-day default retention period for recorded footage, restricts public access to camera records and assigns operational oversight to the Sergeant at Arms and the Capitol Police Department.

Betsy Ann Hess, Clerk of the House, told the committee the policy was drafted by the Office of the Sergeant at Arms with Legislative Counsel and reviewed by legislative staff directors, and said the cameras were installed under committee authorization granted in October 2022. "This document provides the policy for the use of these security cameras, and it provides the procedure for the limited retention of the footage that they record," Hess said.

Greg McKessler, Sergeant at Arms, summarized the system upgrade and its purpose. He said the project added roughly 50 visible cameras to existing entry-point cameras to improve situational awareness and protect the safety of the General Assembly and the spaces it uses. "They do not record audio," McKessler said, and he repeatedly framed the technology as directed at "safety and security." McKessler also explained the policy excludes cameras used by Legislative IT for public live streams.

The policy sets a default 14-day storage period for recorded video. "Camera shall be configured to store recorded video material for a period of 14 days," McKessler said. After 14 days footage is erased unless it is being retained for a policy-permitted safety or security purpose; the Chief of the Capitol Police must periodically review any media retained longer than 14 days and erase footage "when no longer useful for the purposes for which it was retained."

Chief John Polway of the Capitol Police Department gave technical and historical context, noting earlier cameras recorded for longer periods depending on storage. He told the committee the new cameras do not record audio and do not perform facial recognition, though they include an "appearance search" capability to locate people based on descriptors such as clothing or hair color in situations such as a lost child or a person of concern. "The new cameras... do not possess facial recognition capabilities," Polway said.

Committee members asked for clarifications and for limits on scope. Representative Agatha McCoy questioned the phrase "surrounding community," saying it might exceed the committee's purview, and suggested replacing it with "Capital Complex." McKessler and Chief Polway said the intent was to limit camera operation and release of footage to the Capital Complex and to coordinate with Buildings and General Services (BGS) and local law enforcement as needed. McKessler noted that retention-period policy choices echoed practices across other state branches and jurisdictions and described 14 days as a compromise between shorter and longer retention proposals.

Representative Dolan asked what "cultural and diversity awareness" training for camera operators would involve; McKessler and Chief Polway said the training would align with the state-mandated fair-and-impartial policing framework and standard legislative-employee trainings intended to mitigate bias in use of the system.

The committee moved to adopt the policy with an agreement to revisit the flagged language. Senator Jenny Lyons moved the measure; the committee proceeded to roll call and the chair announced the result as "7 0 1," recorded in committee as seven yes, zero no, one not recorded/absent. The chair and staff said they would return with refined language on the jurisdictional phrase for further review.

The committee's discussion noted multiple stakeholders involved in the project, including FEMA, the Department of Homeland Security, historic-preservation authorities, Buildings and General Services, legislative IT and legislative office directors. Committee leaders asked staff to check any statutory definitions of the "Capital Complex" before finalizing revised wording.

What happens next: the policy is adopted with the understanding staff will revisit the scope language ("surrounding community" vs. "Capital Complex") and the committee will schedule a follow-up review of implementation and any recommended changes.

Sources and attributions in this article are drawn from committee remarks by Betsy Ann Hess (Clerk of the House), Greg McKessler (Sergeant at Arms) and John Polway (Chief, Capitol Police Department) during the Joint Rules Committee meeting as recorded in the meeting transcript.