State record · WA · 2026-09-01 · Statute

Washington

Live on this state’s ALPR statute. The occupancy form on file is not a named ALPR highway instrument. A live card is not a permit in hand.

Highway system

Primary

State highways: every highway, or part thereof, designated as a state highway or branch by legislative enactment (RCW 47.04.010(41)). “Highway” in Title 47 is every way open as of right to public vehicular travel, inside or outside cities (RCW 47.04.010(13)). City streets are a separate class (RCW 47.04.010(7)).

Owner

Primary

Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) shall exercise the powers and perform the duties necessary, convenient, or incidental to planning, locating, designing, constructing, improving, repairing, operating, and maintaining state highways (RCW 47.01.260(1)).

Right-of-way

Not retrieved

not packed. RCW 47.04.010 as retrieved does not define “right-of-way.” RCW 47.04.040 (title to rights-of-way) was not packed. Do not substitute Florida § 334.03(21) or any other state’s ROW definition.

Public records

Primary

Public Records Act (chapter 42.56 RCW; inspection RCW 42.56.080). Who may request: Any person. Agencies shall not distinguish among persons requesting records and shall not require the purpose of the request except as RCW 42.56.080 itself lists. The same PRA has produced opposite outcomes on different ALPR-adjacent records. Pack the records, do not generalize. Nov 2025 Skagit County Superior Court (Sedro-Woolley / Stanwood Flock images) held those images public records. WSP’s 2018 ALPR policy treated gathered images/data as not open to the public. Laws of 2026, ch. 239, § 5(5) now says automated license plate reader data is not subject to chapter 42.56 RCW except bona fide research under RCW 42.48.010 without individually identifiable information. Those are three different records, three different outcomes.

The same PRA has produced opposite outcomes on different ALPR-adjacent records. Pack the records, do not generalize. Nov 2025 Skagit County Superior Court (Sedro-Woolley / Stanwood Flock images) held those images public records. WSP’s 2018 ALPR policy treated gathered images/data as not open to the public. Laws of 2026, ch. 239, § 5(5) now says automated license plate reader data is not subject to chapter 42.56 RCW except bona fide research under RCW 42.48.010 without individually identifiable information. Those are three different records, three different outcomes.

Open meetings

Primary

Open Public Meetings Act (chapter 42.30 RCW; open-meetings rule RCW 42.30.030)

ALPR statute

Primary

Laws of 2026, ch. 239 (ESSB 6002); new chapter in Title 10 RCW (section numbers not assigned on retrieval day) — Driver privacy protections and automated license plate reader systems. Enrolled session law, emergency effective 30 March 2026. Default: an agency may not access, operate, or use an ALPR system or its data except as § 3(2) lists — law enforcement against named databases / stolen, missing/endangered, felony or gross-misdemeanor warrant, or felony/gross-misdemeanor investigation; parking enforcement; transportation agencies for real-time traffic, modeling, studies, and commercial-vehicle enforcement at WSP sites and weigh stations. Immigration investigation/enforcement, protected health-care tracking, and First Amendment / Const. art. I, § 7 activity are unlawful. Collection is barred at listed sensitive facilities. Existing and new systems must be registered with the Attorney General within 180 days of the effective date; unregistered systems may not be used. A positive match alone is not reasonable suspicion for a stop. Sharing, sale, lease, rent, or purchase of ALPR or audit-trail data is barred except as the chapter states. Vendors must default sharing off. Willful unauthorized query/retention/sharing is a gross misdemeanor; a civil remedy and CPA application to vendors are in §§ 9–11. Code Revisor had not assigned Title 10 section numbers on 1 Sept 2026. Retention: § 4: not longer than 21 days, with listed exceptions — warrant/subpoena/court order (delete at case end per the retention schedule); parking enforcement (delete no later than 12 hours after final disposition including appeals); traffic studies (delete no later than 30 days after collection); commercial-vehicle enforcement (delete no later than six months after collection); and § 3(2)(a) evidence of the enumerated unlawful conduct for as long as needed. Audit-trail data: two years (§ 8)..

Packed from the enrolled session-law HTML on lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov. Title 10 RCW section numbers were not assigned on retrieval day. Cite Laws of 2026, ch. 239 until they are.

ROW permit

None found

not packed — no ALPR-specific WSDOT instrument retrieved. Who may apply: not packed. WSDOT’s utility-accommodation page and RCW 47.44.010 authorize permits and franchises for utilities (pipes, lines, conduits, trams/railways, urban public-transportation structures). That page does not list an ALPR permit type. Do not treat a utility franchise as the ALPR install path. Do not copy Florida GUP, Minnesota OLPA, or Utah ALPRS Special Use.

WSDOT’s utility-accommodation page and RCW 47.44.010 authorize permits and franchises for utilities (pipes, lines, conduits, trams/railways, urban public-transportation structures). That page does not list an ALPR permit type. Do not treat a utility franchise as the ALPR install path. Do not copy Florida GUP, Minnesota OLPA, or Utah ALPRS Special Use.

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