A bill to regulate automated license plate readers in Washington state for the first time is heading to Gov. Bob Ferguson for his signature.

The state Senate on Tuesday approved amendments made by the House to Senate Bill 6002, also known as the Driver Privacy Act." At least 23 other states have approved such regulations since 2007.

The bill would exempt the footage from public disclosure, limit data retention to 21 days and bar public agencies from using the cameras for immigration enforcement.

The cameras take multiple pictures of any passing vehicle and are mainly used by law enforcement to address auto thefts and find crime suspects and missing people. Software stores the photos and information about each vehicle — including its license plate number, make, model and time and location it was seen — into a searchable database.

But at least eight Washington municipalities, including Everett, Redmond and Lynnwood, have shut off their license plate-reading cameras amid concerns about mass government surveillance, misuse of their footage for illicit acts such as stalking, and federal agencies potentially utilizing the technology to target immigrants and people seeking abortions.

The bill was amended in the state House to allow law enforcement agencies to use the cameras while investigating gross misdemeanors. The previous version of the bill had only allowed the cameras to be used to investigate felonies.

Retaining data for 21 days is also far longer than the bill's original proposal of 72 hours.

"The Legislature has missed an opportunity to truly protect the privacy and safety of every person traveling in Washington state," Tee Sannon, director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington's technology policy program, said in a statement Friday, after the House vote but before the Senate vote.

Still, Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen, called the bill "a truly well-worked solution to a real problem" as he voted in favor of the amended version Thursday, according to a report from the Washington State Standard.

“Law enforcement and local governments and the state government can use the technology effectively to prosecute crimes when appropriate, and assure public safety in a good way, and legal way and constitutional way, while also protecting individuals’ privacy rights," he said.

The Senate's vote comes a couple weeks after Everett temporarily turned off its Flock Safety cameras last month, making it the biggest city in Washington state so far to stop using automated license plate readers.

Everett has 71 cameras — nearly three times as many as Redmond or Lynnwood.

Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin announced the temporary shut-off on Feb. 25, one day after a Snohomish County Superior Court judge ruled the city’s camera footage is a public record.

Franklin said since first implementing the cameras in 2024, the "incredibly valuable" devices have helped Everett police respond to crime and public safety issues, including recovering stolen cars and finding missing people.

Maintaining the footage as public records, however, could overwhelm city employees and endanger victims of stalking and domestic violence, Franklin said. She said the best way to help residents feel safe was to temporarily stop using the cameras until lawmakers establish a “legal framework” governing their use.

“I remain very hopeful for a fix this session in Olympia," Franklin said during a Feb. 25 Everett City Council meeting.

Everett’s choice to temporarily shut down its Flock Safety cameras came after similar decisions by officials in Skamania County and the cities of Redmond, Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, Stanwood, Sedro-Woolley and Olympia.

Much of the funding for those jurisdictions’ cameras came from the state, which distributed more than $650,000 in grants to Everett, Lynnwood, Redmond and Olympia to help pay for their respective two-year contracts with Flock Safety, records show.

Lynnwood and Redmond turned off their cameras in October after University of Washington researchers published a report showing U.S. Border Patrol had searched the Flock Safety databases of at least 18 police agencies in the state.

Officials in Stanwood and Sedro-Woolley also turned off their cameras after a man filed a public disclosure request for their footage, then sued the cities in August for not releasing it to him. A Skagit County Superior Court judge ruled Nov. 6 that the cities’ footage must be made public in accordance with the state’s public records law.

Mountlake Terrace's City Council voted unanimously to terminate their contract with Flock Safety in December, followed last month by Lynnwood's.

“The contract with Flock has failed on its most basic requirement: Trust,” Lynnwood Councilmember Isabel Mata said during a Feb. 23 meeting. “Our community has been clear.”

Even as Everett suspended its use of Flock license plate readers, the city is still using technology made by the Atlanta-based company, including two drones and three surveillance cameras installed in city parks. The drone model purchased by Everett can read license plates from up to 2,000 feet away, according to Flock's website.

In April, the City Council approved a two-year, $507,000 contract with Flock Safety for the drones, which would "seamlessly integrate" with Everett's automated license plate readers and surveillance cameras, according to the agreement.

In response to questions about the continued use of Flock Safety's technology, an Everett spokesperson said the city "continues to believe that these tools are valuable to law enforcement, supporting public safety in our community.

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