Indiana License Plate Reader Laws (2026)

Indiana has no statewide statute governing how police use license plate readers. The only provision in the Indiana Code that mentions them, IC 32-25.5-3.8, added in 2026, is about homeowners associations: an HOA may not install, maintain or operate a plate reader, and may allow one on its property only if it is installed by or for a law enforcement agency, only law enforcement can access the data, and the HOA cannot. Police use is shaped instead by agency policy, such as the Indiana State Police procedure on plate readers, and by general public records law.

Information reviewed September 30, 2026.

For related pages, see the Indiana entry in the state comparison, the ALPR laws hub, Are Flock cameras legal?, What are Flock cameras?, and our Indiana surveillance camera laws guide.

Does Indiana have a license plate reader law?

Only a narrow one. House Bill 1150 of the 2026 session, titled "Local regulation" and authored by Rep. Jim Pressel, added a four-section chapter on homeowners associations to the Indiana Code. The official bill page shows it became Public Law 26 and was signed by the Governor on February 24, 2026.

The chapter, IC 32-25.5-3.8, is titled "Homeowners Association Use of Automated License Plate Readers." Section 1 says it "applies to a homeowners association established before, on, or after July 1, 2026." It does not regulate how police departments use readers or their data, and it does not cover private operators other than HOAs.

What does Indiana's HOA plate reader law say?

The rule has two parts. Section 3: "A homeowners association may not install, maintain, or operate an automated license plate reader."

Section 4 controls readers that others place on HOA property. An HOA "may not permit the installation, maintenance, or operation of an automated license plate reader on the property of the homeowners association unless:"

1. "the automated license plate reader is installed by or on behalf of a law enforcement agency;"
2. "only a law enforcement agency has access to the data and images captured by the automated license plate reader;" and
3. "the homeowners association does not have access to the images or data captured by the automated license plate reader."

All three conditions must be met. An HOA can therefore host a police-run reader, but not one it can see the results of.

Section 2 defines the device as "a camera designed to automatically capture an image of a vehicle's license plate and convert the image into computer readable data to permit comparison of the license plate number of the captured image with license plate numbers contained in one (1) or more databases." It adds: "The term does not include a security camera that may incidentally capture the image of a license plate." An ordinary entrance or gate camera that happens to record plates is outside the rule.

The chapter stops there. It has no retention period, audit requirement, records rule or penalty, and it does not say how a violation is enforced.

How do we know Indiana has no broader plate reader statute?

We searched the whole code. On the General Assembly's official site, we fetched the full text of the 2026 Indiana Code, Titles 1 to 16 and 20 to 36 (Titles 17, 18 and 19 are listed as repealed), and searched each for "license plate reader," "license plate recognition," "license plate data," "plate reader," "captured plate," "automated license," "automatic license," "vehicle location," "surveillance technology," "license plate number," "geolocation" and "location data" or "location information." The only provision that mentions plate readers is IC 32-25.5-3.8. The code site's own search for "license plate reader" returned five results, all in that chapter.

HEA 1150 is the only 2026 act we found that added plate reader text to the code.

We did not search the Indiana Administrative Code, executive orders, Attorney General opinions or local ordinances, so rules in those sources are not ruled out.

What governs police use of plate readers in Indiana?

Agency policy. The Indiana State Police posts a standard operating procedure, ENF-017, "License Plate Reader," effective March 1, 2015, replacing a 2012 version. We found no later version, but we could not confirm the posted procedure is the current one. As posted, it says:

• Readers are operated only by personnel trained by the Department or the authorized manufacturer and "shall only be used for approved law enforcement purposes."
• Operators must confirm reader alarms before taking enforcement action, and "[a]ctivation of an LPR alarm alone does not necessarily establish probable cause."
• All queries and access requests require "a specific patrol or criminal investigative purpose," and the LPR Supervisor keeps a record of all requests to review stored data.
• The LPR Supervisor maintains user logs of reads, alarms and other enforcement actions.

This procedure covers the State Police only. City and county police departments set their own policies, which we did not review.

How long can Indiana keep plate reader data?

No Indiana statute sets a period. Under the State Police procedure as posted, criminal investigative information collected by a reader is extracted and kept with the criminal case under case retention schedules, then purged from the reader system. "All other information collected by the LPR shall be retained for 30 days before being purged from the system; unless, specifically requested in writing, through channels, to the AC/S CIS."

For a city or county system, the retention period is whatever that agency's policy or contract sets.

Can you get Indiana plate reader data through a public records request?

There is no plate-reader-specific rule. The general Access to Public Records Act, IC 5-14-3-4(b)(1), lists "[i]nvestigatory records of law enforcement agencies or private university police departments" among records that "shall be excepted from section 3 of this chapter at the discretion of a public agency." The same paragraph says "a law enforcement recording is not an investigatory record."

We did not research whether plate reader data counts as an investigatory record or a law enforcement recording, and we did not look for Public Access Counselor opinions or court rulings on plate data. Policies, contracts and council records are separate documents that may be easier to request.

Do other Indiana laws touch plate data?

A few general laws come close without regulating plate readers:

• Consumer data privacy. The Indiana Consumer Data Protection Act, IC 24-15, "does not apply" to the state, state agencies or political subdivision bodies, or to a third party under contract with one of them "when acting on behalf of the entity" (IC 24-15-1-1(b)(1)). That exemption "does not exempt data held or created by third parties outside of the scope of the contract with the entity." Government plate reader data is outside the Act. We did not analyze how the Act applies to a private company's own plate data.
• Location tracking. IC 35-33-5-12 bars law enforcement from using "a real time tracking instrument that is capable of obtaining geolocation information concerning a cellular device or a device connected to a cellular network" without a probable cause court order or exigent circumstances. It concerns electronic devices, not plate readers.
• Work zone speed cameras. IC 8-23-32-15 makes information and images from the worksite speed control pilot program, which photographs the rear of a vehicle including its plate, confidential under the public records law and requires them to be destroyed within two years. That is a speed camera program, not a plate reader system, and we did not check whether the pilot is still operating.
• Toll trip data. IC 9-21-3.5-13(e) makes electronic toll collection customer account information, "including contact and payment information and trip data," confidential and not subject to disclosure under the public records law. It covers toll accounts, not plate readers.

What have Indiana courts said?

A CourtListener phrase search for "license plate reader" in Indiana Supreme Court and Court of Appeals opinions returned five Court of Appeals decisions on September 30, 2026. In the one we read in full, Foster v. State (Ind. Ct. App. May 29, 2026), investigators' search of a Flock plate reader database is part of the facts of an armed robbery case; the appeal did not decide any plate reader question. We did not research whether any Indiana court has ruled on the lawfulness of plate reader use or on access to plate data.

Where are plate readers reported in Indiana?

This list is not complete. Our deployment records list the Fort Wayne Police Department's Flock program as ended as of August 25, 2026, citing a WBOI report dated August 31, 2026.

How can I check my local system?

If you live in an HOA community, the 2026 law gives you specific questions. Who installed any reader on HOA property, and was it installed by or on behalf of a law enforcement agency? Does anyone other than law enforcement, including the HOA board or its management company, have access to the images or data? A camera that only incidentally records plates is outside the rule.

For a police system, ask the department for its written plate reader policy, its retention setting, its vendor contract and any council records approving it. For the technology itself, see What are Flock cameras?.

Last updated: September 30, 2026. This page reflects the statute, policy and records described above as we reviewed them; it is general legal information, not legal advice.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Indiana have a license plate reader law?

Only a narrow one. IC 32-25.5-3.8, added by House Enrolled Act 1150 (2026), bars homeowners associations from installing, maintaining or operating plate readers. A search of the full 2026 Indiana Code found no statute governing police use of plate readers.

Can my Indiana HOA install Flock cameras?

An HOA may not install, maintain or operate an automated license plate reader. It may allow one on its property only if a law enforcement agency installs it or has it installed, only law enforcement can access the data and images, and the HOA has no access. A security camera that only incidentally captures plates is not covered.

How long can Indiana police keep plate reader data?

No statute sets a period. The Indiana State Police procedure posted on its website, effective in 2015, purges non-investigative plate data after 30 days unless a written request is made, and keeps investigative data with the case file. Other departments set their own practices, which we did not review.

Can I get Indiana plate reader data through a public records request?

Indiana has no plate-reader-specific records rule. Under the Access to Public Records Act, a law enforcement agency may withhold investigatory records at its discretion. We did not research how that applies to plate data specifically.

Does a plate reader alert alone justify a stop under Indiana State Police policy?

The State Police procedure says operators must confirm alarms before enforcement action and that activation of an alarm alone does not necessarily establish probable cause. That is agency policy, not a statute.