Private Property Rights. License Plate Readers. Lesson from the Attorney General

How would a county in Texas be able to capture license plate information for the purpose of enforcing minimum libaility insurance statutes?

• Pass a Bill
• Give Counties specific authority to use certain equipment
• Give counties specific purpose to use the equipment
• Specify what the enforcement mechanism will be

How did we learn this step by step guide to county license plate reader use?  Because of Attorney General Opinion KP-0076 that answers  whether Bowie County can engage a private company to use a license plate reader data looking for vehicles that don’t have liability insurance?

Did the AG opinion reference a fee splitting arangement? Yes, the vehcile owner will get a letter from the District Attorney office, and fees will be split 50-50 between the County and the company.

Can this fee splitting arrangement with automatic license plate readers work? No, not without legislation.

What is the statutory solution to make automatic license plate readers ok for counties? Counties need specific authority for the “use of automated photographic or similar technology to enforce the state’s vehicle financial responsibility laws. ” That’s the basic bill draft done for you.

What does the Attorney General analysis look like? Its a laundry list of all the uses for photo enforcement in Texas. The highlights:

• statutes  limit what local government it applies to
• statutes limit specifically what can be captured by the photgraphic enforcement
• statutes limit the kind of penalty that is permitted. (i.e. civil or criminal penalties)