DRIVER PRIVACY AND SAFETY ACT, the official text

SENATE BILL 40

57th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2026

INTRODUCED BY

Peter Wirth and Christine Chandler and Cindy Nava

and Heather Berghmans and Micaelita Debbie O’Malley

AN ACT

RELATING TO LICENSE PLATE READERS; ENACTING THE DRIVER PRIVACY
AND SAFETY ACT; PROVIDING LIMITATIONS ON THE SHARING OF
AUTOMATED LICENSE PLATE READER INFORMATION AND REQUIRING
REPORTING; PROVIDING FOR ENFORCEMENT AND PENALTIES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

SECTION 1. [NEW MATERIAL] SHORT TITLE.--This act may be
cited as the "Driver Privacy and Safety Act".

SECTION 2. [NEW MATERIAL] DEFINITIONS.--As used in the
Driver Privacy and Safety Act:

A. "automated license plate reader" means an
electronic device that is capable of recording data on or
taking a photograph of a vehicle or the vehicle's license plate
and comparing the collected data and photographs to existing
law enforcement databases for investigative purposes and
includes a device that is owned or operated by a person or an
entity other than a law enforcement agency;

B. "automated license plate reader information"
means information gathered by an automated license plate reader
or created from the analysis of data generated by an automated
license plate reader, excluding information used for the
purpose of auditing an automated license plate reader;

C. "automated license plate reader user" means a
person or an entity that owns or operates an automated license
plate reader or has access to automated license plate reader
information;

D. "law enforcement agency" means a state or local
agency, political subdivision of the state or private entity
that employs certified law enforcement officers or that is
charged with the enforcement of state, county or municipal laws
or with managing custody of detained persons in any state or
jurisdiction, including the police department of a
municipality, the sheriff's office of a county, the New Mexico
state police division of the department of public safety, the
department of public safety or the police department of an
Indian nation, tribe or pueblo that has entered into an
agreement with the department of public safety pursuant to
Section 29-1-11 NMSA 1978; and

E. "protected health care activity" means:

(1) seeking, providing or receiving
reproductive or gender-affirming health care; or

(2) assisting an individual who is seeking,
receiving or providing reproductive or gender-affirming health
care, including providing:

(a) information;

(b) transportation;

(c) lodging; or

(d) material support.

SECTION 3. [NEW MATERIAL] AUTOMATED LICENSE PLATE
READERS--LIMITATIONS ON SHARING.--

A. An automated license plate reader user shall not
sell, share, allow access to or transfer automated license
plate reader information if the automated license plate reader
user has reasonable belief that the automated license plate
reader information may be used for the purpose of:

(1) investigating or otherwise assisting in
immigration enforcement;

(2) investigating or prosecuting activities
legal in the state, including protected health care activity;
or

(3) efforts to identify or impose civil or
criminal liability upon a person or an entity based solely on
the person's or entity's participation in activities protected
by the United States constitution or the constitution of New
Mexico, including assembly, petitioning and speech, except as
required by state or federal law.

B. An automated license plate reader user in New
Mexico that uses automated license plate reader systems shall
not allow access to automated license plate reader information
by an out-of-state third party without first obtaining from
that party a written declaration that the party expressly
affirms that automated license plate reader information
obtained shall not be used in a manner that would constitute a
violation of Subsection A of this section. The declaration
shall include the internal case number, when available, used by
the requesting third party associated with the relevant
investigation. If a written declaration of affirmation is not
executed, the automated license plate reader user shall not
share the automated license plate reader information with the
third party.

C. An automated license plate reader user shall not
sell, share, allow access to, transfer or otherwise make
available automated license plate reader information to non-law
enforcement officers or agencies.

D. Automated license plate reader information is
confidential and not considered a public record for the
purposes of the Inspection of Public Records Act.

E. Privately captured automated license plate
reader information may only be sold, shared, transferred or
released pursuant to a valid court order.

F. Nothing in the Driver Privacy and Safety Act
shall define or limit any rights under the Reproductive and
Gender-Affirming Health Care Freedom Act or the Reproductive
and Gender-Affirming Health Care Protection Act.

SECTION 4. [NEW MATERIAL] AUTOMATED LICENSE PLATE
READERS--REPORTING.--A law enforcement agency that is an
automated license plate reader user shall report to the
attorney general quarterly. The attorney general shall
electronically publish each report received pursuant to this
section within one month of receiving the report. The report
shall include the:

A. number of requests for automated license plate
reader information from out-of-state third parties;

B. contents of declarations, including the case
numbers, made by out-of-state third parties pursuant to
Subsection B of Section 3 of the Driver Privacy and Safety Act;
and

C. number of requests that did not include a
written declaration pursuant to Subsection B of Section 3 of
the Driver Privacy and Safety Act.

SECTION 5. [NEW MATERIAL] ENFORCEMENT--PENALTIES.--

A. The attorney general or a district attorney is

authorized to enforce the provisions of the Driver Privacy and
Safety Act.

B. In an action to enforce the Driver Privacy and
Safety Act, the court may award appropriate relief, including
temporary, preliminary or permanent injunctive relief. The
court may also assess a civil penalty for a violation of the
Driver Privacy and Safety Act in the amount of ten thousand
dollars ($10,000) or actual damages resulting from each
violation, whichever is greater.

SECTION 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the
provisions of this act is July 1, 2026.

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