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ROW Record

State record · MN · 2026-09-01 · Statute + DOT instrument

Minnesota

This state’s ALPR statute and its named highway-occupancy instrument are both on file. A live card is not a permit in hand.

Statute + DOT instrument
Open the workbenchThe method
Highway system
Primary
Trunk highways: all roads established under Article XIV, section 2 of the Minnesota Constitution (Minn. Stat. § 160.02, subd. 29). County state-aid and municipal state-aid are other road authorities under subd. 25 — not trunk highway.
Owner
Primary
The commissioner (MnDOT) is the road authority as to trunk highways (Minn. Stat. § 160.02, subd. 25). County boards, town boards, and cities are the authority for their own systems.
Right-of-way
Not retrieved
not packed. Minnesota’s ROW definition for trunk highways is not packed in this build. Do not substitute Florida § 334.03(21).
Public records
Primary
Minnesota Government Data Practices Act (Minn. Stat. ch. 13; inspection § 13.03). Who may request: Any person, from the responsible authority or designee, at reasonable times and places
Open meetings
Primary
Minnesota Open Meeting Law (Minn. Stat. ch. 13D)
ALPR statute
Primary
Minn. Stat. § 13.824 — Automated license plate readers. Covers vehicle-mounted and stationary ALPRs, and non-government readers whose data are shared with law enforcement. Traffic-safety cameras are excluded. Data not tied to an active criminal investigation must be destroyed no later than 60 days. Sharing of non-investigative data is limited to other LE agencies that meet access standards; sale/trade otherwise forbidden. Agencies must keep a public use log (including fixed locations unless classified as security information) and notify the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension within 10 days of installation or current use. BCA publishes a public list of agencies and fixed locations except where location is security information. Retention: 60 days unless active criminal investigation, a preservation request on a pending charge, or Safe at Home (ch. 5B) rules apply.
ROW permit
Primary
Automatic License Plate Reader on Trunk Highway Right of Way (MnDOT OLPA). Who may apply: OLPA lists the permit type. The Sept 2025 C-note says anyone asking to place an ALPR in MnDOT ROW must use OLPA.. Instrument name is primary (MnDOT OLPA home page, 1 Sept 2026). Solar-preferred / power-company utility permit / no other traffic-enforcement cameras come from a Sept 2025 PDF hosted by a county-planning association, not from OLPA itself.

Instrument name is primary (MnDOT OLPA home page, 1 Sept 2026). Solar-preferred / power-company utility permit / no other traffic-enforcement cameras come from a Sept 2025 PDF hosted by a county-planning association, not from OLPA itself.

https://olpa.dot.state.mn.us/OLPA/

Install process in this state

Steps 1–5 are primary statute or MnDOT OLPA. Steps 6–7 are the secondary C-note.

  1. This is trunk-highway ROW under Minn. Stat. § 160.02, not Florida’s State Highway System. Do not import FAC 14-20.010.
  2. § 13.824 is a Government Data Practices rule (retention, logs, BCA notice). It is not the permit.
  3. MnDOT OLPA lists a distinct permit: “Automatic License Plate Reader on Trunk Highway Right of Way.” That is the install instrument on trunk highways.
  4. Within 10 days of install or current use, the law-enforcement agency notifies the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension of that use and of any fixed location (§ 13.824, subd. 8).
  5. Keep a public log of use, including stationary-reader location unless it is security information (§ 13.824, subd. 5). Destroy non-investigative data no later than 60 days (§ 13.824, subd. 3).
  6. Secondary C-note (Sept 2025): solar preferred; a utility permit from the power company if power is run to the site.
  7. Secondary C-note: MnDOT does not permit other types of traffic-enforcement cameras in MnDOT right-of-way.

Primary

Where to ask

  • Responsible authority (city/county/agency)

    Government data under ch. 13, including contracts if public

  • City or county clerk

    Minutes, resolutions, vote records

  • Law-enforcement agency

    ALPR use log, location list, policy; investigative data classified separately

  • Bureau of Criminal Apprehension

    Statewide list of agencies and fixed ALPR locations (public except security information)

  • MnDOT OLPA

    “Automatic License Plate Reader on Trunk Highway Right of Way” permit file

SupportedEvidence
Minnesota requires destruction of ALPR data not related to an active criminal investigation no later than 60 days from collection.

mn-13-824

SupportedEvidence
MnDOT’s Online Permit Application lists a permit type named Automatic License Plate Reader on Trunk Highway Right of Way.

mn-olpa

UnprovenInference
MnDOT prefers solar ALPRs and requires a power-company utility permit if power is run to the site; it does not permit other traffic-enforcement cameras in MnDOT ROW.

Those details are in a Sept 2025 PDF hosted by a county-planning association, not on the OLPA home page.

mn-olpa-guidance

Sources in this pack

What was checked

  1. 2026-09-01

    https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/13.824 and /cite/13.03 and /cite/160.02

    Primary: ALPR data practices, public-records access, trunk-highway definition packed. ROW width/definition still not packed.

  2. 2026-09-01

    https://www.dot.state.mn.us/utility/alpr.html and /utility/permits.html

    Both 404.

  3. 2026-09-01

    https://olpa.dot.state.mn.us/OLPA/

    Primary: OLPA lists “Automatic License Plate Reader on Trunk Highway Right of Way” as a permit type.

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