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State record · AL · 2026-09-01 · DOT instrument

Alabama

Live on this state’s named ALPR highway-occupancy instrument. No ALPR use-or-retention statute was retrieved as primary.

DOT instrument
Open the workbenchThe method
Highway system
Primary
State highway rights-of-way under ALDOT. ALDOT’s Public Safety Sensors page and Form MB-14 treat “public highway rights-of-way” / “ALDOT rights of way” as the land the agreement occupies. A Title 23 statutory system definition was not packed.

Owner and ROW occupancy come from ALDOT’s own instrument. Do not substitute Florida’s State Highway System definition.

Owner
Primary
Alabama Department of Transportation, acting by and through its Transportation Director (Form MB-14). Permits for work on State ROW originate in the district offices.
Right-of-way
Not retrieved
not packed. Alabama’s statutory ROW definition is not packed in this build. Do not substitute Florida § 334.03(21). MB-14 occupies “public highway rights-of-way.”
Public records
Primary
Alabama Open Records Act (Ala. Code § 36-12-40 (Article 3, §§ 36-12-40 to 36-12-47; Act 2024-278)). Who may request: Every resident has a right to inspect and take a copy of any public record of this state, except as otherwise expressly provided by applicable law (§ 36-12-40(a)). Resident means an individual permanently domiciled in Alabama with an expectation to remain, shown by reasonable proof such as an Alabama driver license or voter registration (§ 36-12-43(b)(3)). A public officer may request reasonable evidence of residency and may (but need not) respond to nonresidents (§ 36-12-44(f)). Submit under the public officer’s written procedures, or by hand or mail to the main office if none (§ 36-12-45). Official Code of Alabama HTML is a JS SPA (curl of the section URL did not emit the body). Compiled text packed from the legislature’s GraphQL codesOfAlabama (codeId 17710 for § 36-12-40; 58841 for § 36-12-43), history including Act 2024-278 §1. Enrolled SB270 (Act 2024-278) on alison.legislature.state.al.us confirms the 2024 rewrite from “citizen”/“public writing” to “resident”/“public record.”

Official Code of Alabama HTML is a JS SPA (curl of the section URL did not emit the body). Compiled text packed from the legislature’s GraphQL codesOfAlabama (codeId 17710 for § 36-12-40; 58841 for § 36-12-43), history including Act 2024-278 §1. Enrolled SB270 (Act 2024-278) on alison.legislature.state.al.us confirms the 2024 rewrite from “citizen”/“public writing” to “resident”/“public record.”

Open meetings
Primary
Alabama Open Meetings Act (Ala. Code § 36-25A-1 (short title; open-meetings rule))

§ 36-25A-1(a): except for executive sessions in § 36-25A-7(a) or as otherwise expressly provided, all meetings of a governmental body shall be open to the public. § 36-25A-1(b): this chapter may be cited as the Alabama Open Meetings Act. Packed from official GraphQL (codeId 31537).

ALPR statute
None found
No Alabama ALPR statute was retrieved. NCSL (updated 3 Feb 2022) lists 16 states with statutes that expressly address ALPR use or retention; Alabama is not on that list. AJIC Admin. Code Chapter 265-X-6 (official PDF, retrieved) is a rule under Code of Ala. 1975 § 41-9-620, not a statute: LPR data retained no more than five years then destroyed or erased (265-X-6-.06), criminal-justice or public-safety use only, no sale, capturing-agency policy and ALEA CJIS vendor agreement (265-X-6-.08). MB-14 incorporates that chapter. Do not pack 265-X-6 as the ALPR statute.

NCSL 2022 listed none. Admin code is not a statute. Empty statute beats promoting 265-X-6 through the statute gate.

ROW permit
Primary
MB-14 Agreement for Installation and Maintenance of Public Safety Sensors on Highway Rights-of-Way (ALDOT). Purpose checkbox includes License Plate Recognition; ¶7 names license plate reader facilities and license-plate readers; vendor must supply ALEA CJIS Vendor Verification Permit (LPR).. Who may apply: ALDOT Public Safety Sensors page: incorporated municipalities, county governments, or other state agencies or institutions and their associated law-enforcement groups. MB-14 signature block has checkboxes for incorporated municipality, county government, or state governmental agency or institution. Applications go to [email protected]. Third-party vendors need an ALEA CJIS Vendor Verification Permit (LPR) supplied with the application (MB-14 ¶5).. Three-year contract period; failure to renew makes facilities unlawful on ROW (¶13). ALDOT may require relocation, repair, or removal at applicant expense within 30 days of written notice (¶25–26). Failure to conform is cause to revoke (¶28). Transportation Director’s decision on issuance, revocation, and execution is final (¶30).. The PSS HTML page itself says only “public safety sensors” and never names ALPR. Form MB-14 (January 2023 PDF) does: purpose checkbox “License Plate Recognition”; ¶4–7 “license-plate technology,” “license-plate reading technology,” “license plate reader facilities,” “license-plate readers,” and “Vendor Verification Permit (LPR).” Instrument text is taken from that form so the gate regex matches without a “not an ALPR” negation.

The PSS HTML page itself says only “public safety sensors” and never names ALPR. Form MB-14 (January 2023 PDF) does: purpose checkbox “License Plate Recognition”; ¶4–7 “license-plate technology,” “license-plate reading technology,” “license plate reader facilities,” “license-plate readers,” and “Vendor Verification Permit (LPR).” Instrument text is taken from that form so the gate regex matches without a “not an ALPR” negation.

https://www.dot.state.al.us/business/permits/PSSensors.html

Install process in this state

  1. This is ALDOT state highway right-of-way, not Florida’s State Highway System. Do not import a General Use Permit, Minnesota OLPA, or Utah Special Use.
  2. There is no packed Alabama ALPR statute. NCSL 2022 listed none. Do not invent a statutory retention period.
  3. AJIC Admin. Code Ch. 265-X-6 (official, not a statute) caps LPR data at five years (265-X-6-.06) and is the chapter MB-14 ¶4–6 incorporate. Capturing agencies need a written public policy before collecting LPR data (265-X-6-.08).
  4. The ROW instrument is ALDOT Form MB-14 (January 2023), “Agreement for Installation and Maintenance of Public Safety Sensors on Highway Rights-of-Way.” The form’s purpose checkboxes include License Plate Recognition. ¶7 stipulates license plate reader facilities on public rights-of-way are for monitoring and locating vehicles for law-enforcement purposes using license-plate readers.
  5. Who signs: an incorporated municipality, a county, or a state agency/institution. Law-enforcement groups ride that applicant. All permits originate in the district offices; applications for this program go to [email protected].
  6. If a vendor is used, obtain ALEA’s CJIS Vendor Verification Permit (LPR) and attach it (MB-14 ¶5; 265-X-6-.08(2)).
  7. Portable facilities: not adjacent to the traveled way, not in a safety shoulder, not in a divided-highway median; not more than 30 days in one spot; stay inside the applicant’s jurisdiction (¶3).
  8. Permanent facilities: Utility Manual, one-year construction period, three-year agreement term. Change of vendor or ownership requires a new agreement (¶2, ¶14, ¶17).
  9. ALDOT posts applicant, contact, county, route, location, and a brief device description on its website during review and for at least 90 days after approval or denial (¶29).
  10. Open records: Alabama residents under § 36-12-40(a), via the custodian’s written procedures (§ 36-12-45). Do not copy Johnson City, Tennessee dollar figures or FDOT EOM 26-01 into this pack.

Primary

Where to ask

  • City or county clerk

    Minutes, resolutions, vote records (Open Meetings Act § 36-25A-1; Open Records Act § 36-12-40)

  • Purchasing / finance

    Vendor contract; ALEA CJIS Vendor Verification Permit (LPR) copy required by MB-14 ¶5

  • Law-enforcement agency

    Sensor use, vendor, ORI, AJIC/CJIS compliance file; LPR access and dissemination logs (265-X-6-.04)

  • ALDOT district / [email protected]

    MB-14 agreement, plans, public list of active applications (¶29)

SupportedEvidence
ALDOT Form MB-14 (January 2023) is an agreement for public-safety sensors on highway rights-of-way. It lists License Plate Recognition as a purpose and, in ¶7, names license plate reader facilities and license-plate readers.

al-mb14 · al-pss

SupportedEvidence
Alabama Justice Information Commission Admin. Code r. 265-X-6-.06 requires capturing agencies to retain LPR data, and the access log, for no more than five years, then destroy or erase it, except for records tied to an active investigation or pending case.

This is administrative code under § 41-9-620, not an ALPR statute. MB-14 incorporates the chapter.

al-ajic-265x6

SupportedEvidence
Ala. Code § 36-12-40(a), as amended by Act 2024-278, grants every resident a right to inspect and take a copy of any public record of this state, except as otherwise expressly provided by applicable law.

al-36-12-40

Sources in this pack

What was checked

  1. 2026-09-01

    https://www.dot.state.al.us/business/permits/PSSensors.html and MB-14 PDF

    Primary. PSS page: public safety sensors for municipalities/counties/state agencies; never names ALPR/LPR/license plate readers. Form MB-14 (Jan 2023) names License Plate Recognition as a purpose checkbox and, in ¶4–7, license-plate technology, license plate reader facilities, license-plate readers, and ALEA CJIS Vendor Verification Permit (LPR). Packed as the ALPR-named ROW instrument.

  2. 2026-09-01

    https://www.dot.state.al.us/business/permits/uasuPermits.html and /business/permits/index.html

    Primary generic utility/special-use and permits index. Public Safety Sensors is a separate program from utility accommodation.

  3. 2026-09-01

    https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=36-12-40 (curl HTML + RSC) and GraphQL Query.codesOfAlabama

    HTML/RSC did not emit the section body (JS SPA). Official GraphQL codesOfAlabama(where: {codeId: {eq: "17710"}}) returned compiled § 36-12-40: every resident may inspect and copy any public record except as otherwise provided by applicable law (Act 2024-278). Same API: §§ 36-12-41, 36-12-43 (resident definition), 36-12-44(f) (proof of residency), 36-12-45 (how to request), 36-25A-1 (Open Meetings Act). Packed recordsLaw and meetingsLaw primary.

  4. 2026-09-01

    https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/files/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2024RS/SB270-enr.pdf

    Primary enrolled Act 2024-278. Amends §§ 36-12-40 and 36-12-41; adds §§ 36-12-43 to 36-12-46. Corroborates the compiled GraphQL text (citizen→resident; public writing→public record). Effective with the 2024 act; compiled history on § 36-12-40 lists Act 2024-278 §1.

  5. 2026-09-01

    https://admincode.legislature.state.al.us/api/chapter/265-X-6

    Primary AJIC Admin. Code Ch. 265-X-6 (License Plate Recognition Systems for Law Enforcement), statutory authority § 41-9-620, effective 17 Mar 2022. 265-X-6-.06: LPR data retained no more than five years. Rule, not a statute. Packed as the chapter MB-14 cites; not packed as alprStatute.

  6. 2026-09-01

    NCSL Automated License Plate Readers: State Statutes (updated 3 Feb 2022) and keyword hunt for an Alabama ALPR statute

    NCSL lists 16 states; Alabama is not among them. No Ala. Code article on ALPR use or retention was retrieved. 2026 news about possible Flock limits is not law. none_found.

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