Skip to content

State packs

ROW Record

State record · MA · 2026-09-01 · Not yet retrieved

Massachusetts

Not yet retrieved. Occupancy is listed. An ALPR-named highway form is not. Empty is honest. Do not fill it in from another state.

Not yet retrieved
Open the workbenchThe method
Highway system
Primary
G.L. c. 6C, § 1 names three systems the department owns, constructs, or operates: the state highway system; the metropolitan highway system (MHS); and the turnpike (I-90 from West Stockbridge to, but not including, I-90/Route 128 in Weston). G.L. c. 6C, §§ 37–38 put a division of highways inside MassDOT to administer G.L. c. 81 and the state highway system. MassDOT-Highway’s access-permit pages speak of the State Highway Right-of-Way / State Highway Layout (SHLO). The turnpike and MHS are not this SHLO pack. This is not Florida’s State Highway System and not a Minnesota trunk highway.

Turnpike (MassPike) and MHS sit in MassDOT after the 2009 consolidation, but they are separately defined owners/systems under c. 6C, § 1. Do not merge them into the Highway Division SHAPS geography.

Owner
Primary
MassDOT Highway Division for state highways. G.L. c. 81, § 21: no state highway shall be dug up, opened, accessed, dumped on, or have a structure placed thereon without the written permit of the department. G.L. c. 6C, § 38: the division of highways administers c. 81 and manages the state highway system. MassDOT-Highway administers State Highway Access Permits (SHAPS). Towns may dig a state highway without prior approval only in immediate necessity, then replace and notify. The turnpike and MHS are not this owner.
Right-of-way
Primary
700 CMR 13.02. SHLO: Commonwealth property under the custody and control of MassDOT being used and laid out for highway purposes; this does not include parcels under MassDOT custody that are not being used for highway purposes. ROW: the area within MassDOT’s jurisdiction and control which denotes land, property, or MassDOT’s interest therein, usually in a strip of land acquired for or devoted to transportation purposes (plus utility-easement and small-cell senses in the same definition). Do not substitute Florida § 334.03(21). 700 CMR 7 (Turnpike/MHS use) is not this land definition.
Public records
Primary
Massachusetts Public Records Law (G.L. c. 66, § 10 (definition of public records: G.L. c. 4, § 7, cl. 26)). Who may request: A records access officer shall, at reasonable times and without unreasonable delay, permit inspection or furnish a copy of any public record (G.L. c. 66, § 10(a)). The statute as packed does not add a residency limit. Cite c. 66, § 10, not a nickname. There is no packed ALPR confidentiality statute.
Open meetings
Primary
Massachusetts Open Meeting Law (G.L. c. 30A, §§ 18–25)
ALPR statute
None found
No Massachusetts general-law section expressly regulating governmental ALPR use or plate-data retention was retrieved. NCSL’s February 2022 ALPR-statute table does not list Massachusetts. H.3755 (194th, “An Act establishing driver privacy protections”) was reported favorably and referred to House Ways and Means on 23 March 2026 — still a bill, not packed as law. Acts of 2026 c. 140 (Cambridge parking enforcement) and c. 101 (Freetown PD appropriation) are special/appropriation acts, not a statewide use-and-retention statute. Commonwealth v. McCarthy, 484 Mass. 493 (2020), is Fourth Amendment case law, not a use statute, and is not packed as an ALPR statute. 700 CMR 7.02 defines “ALPR” as Automatic License Plate Recognition (OCR of plate number, issuing state, and/or plate type) for Use of the Massachusetts Turnpike and the Metropolitan Highway System — EZDrive MA / Pay By Plate toll operations, with Hot List data sharing to Massachusetts State Police under 700 CMR 7.05(8) in listed emergencies. That definition is Turnpike/MHS/toll (and MassDOT’s own WIM/toll camera operations), not a local-LE ROW install authorization and not packed here as the ALPR statute. Empty beats stretching 700 CMR 7.

700 CMR 7 was retrieved on 1 Sept 2026 and is packed only as a Turnpike/MHS/toll definition hunt. Do not treat 700 CMR 7.02 as an ALPR use statute. Do not treat 700 CMR 7.05(8) Hot List sharing as a permit to occupy Highway Division ROW.

ROW permit
Primary
Highway Access Permit (State Highway Access Permit / SHAPS). Who may apply: Anyone proposing physical work or activity within, or that impacts, the State Highway Right-of-Way or property in MassDOT-Highway custody (MassDOT SHAPS / mass.gov). Authority: G.L. c. 81, § 21 and G.L. c. 85, § 2. Process: 700 CMR 13.00. Types named in 700 CMR 13.02: Vehicular Access Permits, Non-vehicular Access Permits (utilities, signs, survey, events, “various other types of work”), and Small Wireless Facility Permits. A License (sustained occupancy) or OREAD lease may issue in MassDOT’s discretion in addition to or in lieu of a Permit — still not an ALPR type. Utilities, municipalities, and others apply through SHAPS. ALPR-specific permit type not listed.. Instrument name is from MassDOT Highway Division’s own State Highway Access Permits page and SHAPS “Do I Need a Permit?”, 1 Sept 2026. 700 CMR 13 names vehicular / non-vehicular / small-wireless types; none is ALPR, LPR, or license-plate reader. 700 CMR 7 (Turnpike/MHS use; ALPR defined for EZDrive MA toll OCR) is not this instrument and is not packed as an LE occupancy permit. Do not import Florida General Use, Minnesota OLPA, or Utah Special Use.

Instrument name is from MassDOT Highway Division’s own State Highway Access Permits page and SHAPS “Do I Need a Permit?”, 1 Sept 2026. 700 CMR 13 names vehicular / non-vehicular / small-wireless types; none is ALPR, LPR, or license-plate reader. 700 CMR 7 (Turnpike/MHS use; ALPR defined for EZDrive MA toll OCR) is not this instrument and is not packed as an LE occupancy permit. Do not import Florida General Use, Minnesota OLPA, or Utah Special Use.

https://www.mass.gov/state-highway-access-permits

Install process in this state

There is no packed Massachusetts ALPR statute and no ALPR-named MassDOT-Highway occupancy instrument. Steps are the Highway Access Permit plus public-records path. 700 CMR 7 is packed only as a negative: Turnpike/toll definition, not the install path.

  1. Name the owner. This pack is a Massachusetts state highway / State Highway Layout under G.L. c. 81 and G.L. c. 6C, §§ 37–38, administered by MassDOT Highway Division — not Florida SHS, not a Minnesota trunk highway, and not the turnpike or MHS. Turnpike (MassPike) and MHS are separately defined in G.L. c. 6C, § 1; do not file SHAPS as if it covered MassPike, and do not treat 700 CMR 7 as the Highway Division permit.
  2. No packed Massachusetts general law sets ALPR retention, hot-list rules, or who may operate a reader. Do not import Maine’s 21-day cap, New Hampshire’s 3-minute purge, Vermont’s 18 months, Connecticut’s Public Act 26-14, or Florida’s § 316.0777. H.3755 is a bill. Commonwealth v. McCarthy is not a use statute.
  3. 700 CMR 7.02’s ALPR definition and 700 CMR 7.05(8) Hot List sharing are Turnpike/MHS EZDrive MA toll operations (and MassDOT’s own toll/WIM camera use). They do not authorize a local law-enforcement ALPR in Highway Division right-of-way. Do not stretch that definition into this pack’s alprStatute or into the ROW instrument.
  4. Physical work or a structure in the State Highway Right-of-Way needs a Highway Access Permit from MassDOT-Highway via SHAPS, under G.L. c. 81, § 21 and 700 CMR 13.00 (vehicular, non-vehicular, or small-wireless types). MassDOT’s Highway Division pages do not list an ALPR or LPR permit type. Sustained occupancy may also need a License or OREAD lease — still generic, still not an ALPR instrument.
  5. Contracts, permits, and minutes are public records under G.L. c. 66, § 10 unless a c. 4, § 7, cl. 26 exemption applies. There is no packed ALPR confidentiality statute.
  6. Do not copy FDOT EOM 26-01, MnDOT OLPA, UDOT Special Use, NYSDOT LPR-01, ODOT LPR Other, or Johnson City, TN dollar figures into Massachusetts.

Primary

Where to ask

  • City/town clerk

    Minutes, orders, and votes of the public body (G.L. c. 30A, §§ 18–25)

  • Purchasing / finance

    Contracts, amendments, invoices as public records under G.L. c. 66, § 10

  • Police records access officer

    Any ALPR policy, logs, or vendor files that are public records; no packed statewide ALPR desk

  • MassDOT Highway District (SHAPS)

    Highway Access Permit file for work in the State Highway Layout — generic occupancy, not an ALPR-named file

SupportedEvidence
Physical work or a structure in MassDOT-Highway right-of-way requires a Highway Access Permit under G.L. c. 81, § 21, administered through SHAPS (700 CMR 13.00).

ma-c81-21 · ma-dot-access · ma-700-cmr-13

SupportedEvidence
Massachusetts has no general-law section that expressly regulates governmental ALPR use or plate-data retention.

none_found on 1 Sept 2026 after malegislature.gov search, NCSL 2022 table, and H.3755 (still a bill, Ways and Means). A later enactment would make this stale. Special acts and McCarthy are not this claim.

ma-alpr-hunt

UnprovenAssumption
MassDOT Highway Division issues a named ALPR or LPR right-of-way occupancy permit.

Retrieved Highway Division pages and 700 CMR 13 name Highway Access Permits (vehicular, non-vehicular, small wireless), not an ALPR instrument.

ma-dot-access · ma-700-cmr-13

DisputedAssumption
700 CMR 7.02’s ALPR definition and 700 CMR 7.05(8) Hot List rules authorize local law-enforcement ALPRs in Highway Division state-highway right-of-way.

700 CMR 7.00 is Use of the Massachusetts Turnpike and the Metropolitan Highway System. ALPR is defined for EZDrive MA / Pay By Plate toll OCR. 7.05(8) shares Hot List travel data with State Police in listed emergencies. That is not an LE ROW install permit and is not packed as alprStatute or as the SHAPS instrument.

ma-700-cmr-7

Sources in this pack

What was checked

  1. 2026-09-01

    malegislature.gov General Laws search for automated/automatic license plate reader; https://malegislature.gov/Laws/Search?searchTerms=automated%20license%20plate ; NCSL Feb 2022 ALPR statute table

    No enacted general-law ALPR use or retention section. Search hits are special/appropriation acts (2026 cc. 140, 101), not G.L. chapters. NCSL 2022 lists 16 states; Massachusetts is not among them. Packed alprStatute none_found.

  2. 2026-09-01

    https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H3755 (An Act establishing driver privacy protections)

    Bill. Last packed action: 23 March 2026, reported favorably, referred to House Ways and Means. Not enacted. Not packed as law.

  3. 2026-09-01

    https://www.mass.gov/doc/700-cmr-7-use-of-the-massachusetts-turnpike-and-the-metropolitan-highway-system/download and 700 CMR 7.02 / 7.05 on mass.gov and LII

    Primary: 700 CMR 7.00 is Use of the Massachusetts Turnpike and the Metropolitan Highway System. § 7.02 defines ALPR as OCR of plate number/state/type. Pay By Plate uses photographic/video images of plates for toll collection. § 7.05(8) Hot List Data: State Police / EOPSS emergency sharing of toll travel data (14/30-day list), not an install permit. ALPR appears as a definition; the chapter does not authorize local-LE ALPRs in Highway Division ROW. Packed as a negative hunt, not as alprStatute and not as the ROW instrument.

  4. 2026-09-01

    MassDOT Highway Division pages for an LE ALPR/LPR occupancy instrument: https://www.mass.gov/state-highway-access-permits ; https://shaps.massdot.state.ma.us/DoINeedPermit.aspx ; https://www.mass.gov/lists/access-permit-procedures-and-requirements ; searches for ALPR, LPR, license plate reader, camera occupancy

    Primary: MassDOT-Highway names Highway Access Permit / SHAPS; cites G.L. c. 81, § 21, c. 85, § 2, and 700 CMR 13.00. Common types: driveways, utilities, landscape, events, survey, staging. No ALPR/LPR permit type. 700 CMR 13.02 types are vehicular, non-vehicular, small wireless — none ALPR-named.

  5. 2026-09-01

    https://www.mass.gov/doc/700-cmr-1300-approval-of-access-to-massachusetts-department-of-transportation-highways-and-other-property/download (700 CMR 13.02 SHLO/ROW)

    Primary: SHLO and ROW definitions packed. Small Wireless Permit is for FCC-sense small cells, not LE cameras. License for sustained occupancy is MassDOT discretion, not an ALPR type.

  6. 2026-09-01

    https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleII/Chapter6C/Section1 and /Section37 and /Section38

    Primary: c. 6C, § 1 separately defines state highway system, metropolitan highway system, and turnpike. §§ 37–38: Highway Division administers c. 81 and the state highway system. Do not merge Turnpike/MHS into SHAPS.

  7. 2026-09-01

    https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXIV/Chapter81/Section21

    Primary: written permit of the department required to dig, open, access, or place a structure on a state highway.

  8. 2026-09-01

    MassDOT Highway Division WIM/ALPR camera procurement (statewide weigh-in-motion enhancements staff summary, MassDOT board 3 Dec 2025) and 700 CMR 11 (Tobin Bridge) ALPR definition

    Highway Division WIM bid items include an ALPR camera system — MassDOT’s own WIM/toll-adjacent equipment, not an LE occupancy instrument. 700 CMR 11 repeats the 7.02-style ALPR definition for the Tobin Bridge (an MHS component). Neither is packed as alprStatute or as the SHAPS instrument.

All state packs · Process