ACLU of Ohio reported that four bills on automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) were introduced at the Ohio Statehouse in September, while the legislature was on pre-election break. It is not expected that any of them will pass before the current session ends in December.
What are the four Ohio plate reader bills?
- Senate Bill 469, sponsored by Sen. Cutrona (R), allows broad ALPR use and places most controls on who receives the data and how it is used. It requires deletion after 10 days, but only when the data is not relevant to an ongoing investigation, was not obtained with a warrant, and its deletion is not prohibited by law. It also bans ALPRs within 500 feet of a house of worship or a firearms retailer.
- House Bill 1010, sponsored by Rep. Dean (R), generally bans ALPR use except for listed exemptions. It requires warrants with specific exceptions and deletion within 90 days unless the data is relevant to an ongoing investigation.
- House Bill 1009, sponsored by Reps. Newman and Willis (R), would keep the current approach largely in place. It would extend the existing 5th-degree felony penalty for unauthorized use of similar databases to ALPR databases.
- House Bill 1011, introduced by Rep. Click (R), would halt much ALPR use for one year. It includes an exemption allowing ALPRs to be used in cooperation with ICE on immigration enforcement.
Where does the ACLU of Ohio stand?
The group calls SB 469 and HB 1010 intriguing starting points. It opposes HB 1009 and HB 1011. It also says total banishment of ALPRs is the only acceptable outcome, though it acknowledges that total elimination is not politically viable in some Ohio communities right now.
Does anything change for drivers in Ohio right now?
Not based on these bills. ACLU of Ohio says Ohio has no statewide law governing ALPR use, apart from the public records law, and almost no local laws. The one local ban it mentions is in Ironton, passed in August.
The source does not describe any new restriction taking effect now, and it does not describe any change to cameras already installed. It also does not address cameras run by neighboring cities, counties, businesses or HOAs.
What happens next?
The next legislative session starts in January 2027 and runs two years. ACLU of Ohio describes the four bills as starting points for that session, and says Statehouse legislators are split on what measures are needed, if any.
To see which plate readers operate near you, check the camera map. To understand how these systems work, read how plate readers work. To ask a local agency for its policies and data-sharing records, see published agency transparency records.