The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.North Dakota bill requires highway director to enter license plate reader agreements with law enforcement
Last action · January 28, 2025: Second reading, failed to pass, yeas 42 nays 51
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What This Bill Proposed
Legislation requires the state transportation director to enter into agreements with requesting law enforcement or federal border control agencies to place on department equipment and infrastructure. The terms of these would have superseded existing state laws governing the use of highway funds under sections 24-02-36 and 24-02-37.
Changes how transportation infrastructure can be utilized for surveillance by overriding existing state statutes that regulate the expenditure of highway funds for local and state law enforcement purposes.
- The measure was introduced during the Sixty-ninth Legislative Assembly of North Dakota by the Transportation Committee at the request of the Attorney General. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Law Enforcement Agencies
State, county, city, and federal border control agencies gain the authority to require the placement of license plate readers on department infrastructure.
State Transportation Department
The director is mandated to enter into cooperative agreements and permit the installation of license plate readers on department-owned equipment.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can request the placement of license plate readers under this bill?
Where can the license plate readers be installed?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
Follow the record
Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Failed in the House.
Procedural history
4 actions- Jan 28, 2025HouseSecond reading, failed to pass, yeas 42 nays 51
- Jan 24, 2025HouseCommitteeReported back, do not pass, placed on calendar 14 0 0
- Jan 16, 2025HouseCommitteeCommittee Hearing 02:30
- Jan 7, 2025HouseIntroducedIntroduced, first reading, referred Transportation Committee
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Mandatory Infrastructure Access for Surveillance
The bill shifts discretion into a mandatory duty for the transportation director to accommodate law enforcement equipment on state infrastructure.
Connected Entities
Sources
ndlegis.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 45)
- Controversy60Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz25Current news / social attention level
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