House Bill 26-031

This act generally requires law enforcement agencies to obtain a search warrant before accessing or reviewing surveillance camera recordings, including traffic cameras, automated license plate readers, public safety cameras, privately owned cameras accessible to law enforcement, and body-worn camera footage when used for retrospective investigation. Warrants must be supported by probable cause and narrowly identify the camera or system, time period, offense under investigation, and relevant footage. The authorized time range generally may not exceed 12 hours, and officers may obtain no more than 10 minutes of footage in aggregate unless a court specifically finds that additional footage is necessary and narrowly tailored to the investigation.

This act permits warrantless access in limited emergencies involving an immediate danger of death, kidnapping, serious bodily injury, imminent destruction of evidence, terrorist threats to public infrastructure, or preventing the escape of a suspect who committed a violent crime. Law enforcement must apply for a warrant within 24 hours after emergency access and document the circumstances justifying the search. If a court determines that the emergency did not justify warrantless access, the footage is inadmissible. The act also prohibits generalized or bulk surveillance searches, including geofence or reverse-location searches, without individualized probable cause and prohibits law enforcement from using facial recognition, biometric scanning, or automated AI analytics to identify individuals in surveillance footage.

This act permits real-time monitoring of law-enforcement-owned cameras for traffic control, emergency response, and public safety purposes, but subsequent investigative review generally requires a warrant. Private individuals or businesses generally may not voluntarily provide surveillance footage to law enforcement without a warrant unless it depicts a felony occurring on their premises and is provided within 24 hours. Law enforcement also may not evade the warrant requirement by purchasing footage or associated metadata from data brokers or private analytics companies. Evidence obtained in violation of the act is subject to suppression, and surveillance footage must generally be deleted within 90 days when obtained by warrant or 30 days when initially obtained through the emergency exception, unless it is lawfully retained as evidence.

This act requires the Attorney General to maintain a public database documenting emergency surveillance access, while law enforcement agencies must annually report the number of surveillance warrants sought, granted or denied, and emergency accesses performed. Individuals whose rights are violated may bring civil actions for damages and equitable relief, with the act providing statutory damages of $10,000 per violation or $1,000 for each day a violation continues, whichever is greater, as well as punitive damages upon a showing of malice. This act was approved May 15, 2026, and is scheduled to take effect August 18, 2026.