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License-plate readers · Olmsted

Olmsted

Using license-plate readers · 2 agencies documented

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Olmsted County Sheriff's Office

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Axon
Cameras
Count not documented
No current count found. The 2025 audits covered older systems on four patrol vehicles (BOSS) and two (UTILITY); both systems were retired.
Contract
Axon: total · approved by Olmsted County Board · Five-year package worth nearly $3.4 million for body cameras, squad cameras, Tasers and storage. The Post Bulletin said it includes automatic license plate recognition in patrol vehicles. The total is not listed as an exact amount. (Rochester Post Bulletin, Sept. 3, 2024)
  1. Sept. 2024 The county board unanimously approved the five-year Axon contract, which includes plate recognition in patrol vehicles. (Rochester Post Bulletin, Sept. 3, 2024)
  2. Dec. 2024 The sheriff's newsletter said the new Axon squad camera systems were fully in place. (Olmsted County, Dec. 2024)
  3. April 17, 2025 Audits of two earlier ALPR systems (BOSS and UTILITY) found the office in compliance with state law and said both systems were retired. (Minnesota Security Consortium (filed with Minnesota Legislative Reference Library), April 17, 2025; Minnesota Security Consortium (filed with Minnesota Legislative Reference Library), April 18, 2025)
  4. April 28, 2025 The office appeared on the BCA's list of agencies using license plate readers. (City of Mankato (reproducing Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension list), April 28, 2025)
Conflicts and open questions
  • The vote date is inferred from the Post Bulletin article dated Sept. 3, 2024, which does not state it, so the event is dated by month only.
  • The status is active because the Axon contract that includes plate recognition runs about five years from late 2024. We found no audit or record showing the Axon readers in use; check with the next biennial audit.
  • The audits found no standard public log-of-use reports had been kept on the retired systems.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Rochester Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Vendor not named in source
Cameras
2
Fixed readers on 41st Street NW in use as of April 2026, per KROC; four more were planned with grant money
  1. Dec. 19, 2024 An outside audit by LOGIS found the department's ALPR program in compliance with state law. (LOGIS (filed with Minnesota Legislative Reference Library), Dec. 19, 2024)
  2. April 28, 2025 The department appeared on the BCA's list of Minnesota agencies using license plate readers, as reproduced in a Mankato council packet. (City of Mankato (reproducing Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension list), April 28, 2025)
  3. April 6, 2026 The City Council voted unanimously to let police apply for federal grant money to buy four more fixed readers. (KAAL-TV, April 6, 2026; KROC (News Talk 1340), April 7, 2026)
  4. April 15, 2026 The city posted notice that the FY 2025 Byrne JAG allocation for Rochester and Olmsted County, $28,188, would go toward fixed license plate readers. (City of Rochester, April 15, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • KAAL reported the council meeting as a Monday; the article was published late on April 6, 2026, local time, so the date is inferred.
  • KROC said 20% of the grant would go to the Olmsted County Sheriff's Office.
  • Whether the grant was awarded and the four readers installed was not confirmed.
  • No source we opened names the vendor.

From agency records.

Statewide

  1. 2015 Minn. Stat. § 13.824 enacted (2015 c 67, s 3); later amended in 2021 (1st Spec. Sess.) and 2024 (c 127). It limits what ALPRs may collect, requires destruction of non-investigative data within 60 days, limits sharing to qualifying law-enforcement agencies, requires a public log of use and list of fixed locations, requires a biennial independent audit filed with the Legislative Commission on Data Practices and others within 30 days, requires written authorization and an active-investigation basis for access, and bars tracking an investigative subject without a warrant or exigent circumstances. (Enactment year only; month not checked.) (Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes, date not shown)
  2. 2015 Subdivision 8 requires agencies to notify the BCA within 10 days of installing or using an ALPR (including fixed locations); the BCA keeps a public list of agencies and reader locations unless a location is classified as security information. (Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes, date not shown)
  3. Nov. 20, 2025 The Legislative Commission on Data Practices took public testimony on ALPR and body-camera reporting requirements. (Legislative Coordinating Commission, Nov. 20, 2025)
  4. Dec. 11, 2025 The commission's members discussed ALPR and body-camera reporting requirements and potential statutory updates. (Legislative Coordinating Commission, Dec. 11, 2025; Legislative Coordinating Commission, Dec. 11, 2025)
  5. March 12, 2026 HF 4205 (Tabke) introduced: it would tighten ALPR data restrictions, centralize ALPR data in the BCA, and regulate private-entity ALPR use; referred to House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law with no further action shown. (Minnesota Legislature / Revisor of Statutes, March 12, 2026)
  6. March 23, 2026 Senate companion SF 4739 (Verbeten) introduced and referred to Judiciary and Public Safety; no further action shown. Its text would amend § 13.824 and add related provisions elsewhere in state law. (Minnesota Legislature / Revisor of Statutes, March 23, 2026; Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes, March 19, 2026)
  7. July 2026 A Star Tribune investigation published in July 2026 (exact date not confirmed) reported that law enforcement agencies inside and outside Minnesota searched plate-reader data from Twin Cities suburbs for civil immigration enforcement. Sahan Journal said the investigation found about 30 state, county and federal agencies ran such searches on cameras in at least eight suburbs between November 2025 and March 2026. MPR News reported hundreds of such searches, mostly on Fridley's cameras. The Minneapolis City Council bulletin said the investigation reported that federal immigration agencies such as ICE could access Flock data. In October 2026 the Star Tribune said the searches took place during Operation Metro Surge. (Sahan Journal, Aug. 18, 2026; MPR News, Aug. 17, 2026; City of Minneapolis, Oct. 1, 2026; Government Technology (TNS / Minnesota Star Tribune), Aug. 4, 2026; Government Technology (TNS / Minnesota Star Tribune), Oct. 26, 2026; FOX 9, Aug. 14, 2026)
  8. Oct. 30, 2026 The BCA public list, checked Oct. 30, 2026, names 117 agencies that reported using ALPR or devices with ALPR capability. The page shows no 'last updated' date. (Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, date not shown)

State agencies

Minnesota State Patrol

Status
Program documented, current use unconfirmed
Vendors
PIPS Technology
Cameras
6
ALPR systems on patrol vehicles at the 2024 audit.
Sources
Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, date not shown
  1. Feb. 27, 2024 Audit (Jan. 1, 2022 to Dec. 31, 2023) reported six active ALPR systems on patrol vehicles and no stationary units; it reviewed the PIPS Technology BOSS system. (Minnesota Legislative Reference Library (filed audit), Feb. 27, 2024)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Still on the BCA public list (no fixed locations) as of Oct. 30, 2026; no 2025-2026 audit located.

From agency records.