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Napa County Sheriff | License plate readers

The Sheriff's policy keeps plate data for at least a year, where the city police policy has vendors purge it at 30 days. The chapter names no limit on federal or out-of-state agencies, and the manual's separate immigration chapter covers other records rather than plate data.

At a glance

Retention
A minimum of one year on the office server, then purged unless it is or may become evidence [1]
Who may receive the data
Law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies, on a written request naming the agency, the requester and the purpose [1]
Limit on federal or out-of-state agencies
the chapter names none. The manual's immigration chapter, Policy 413, bars using state telecommunications and DMV records for immigration enforcement and does not mention plate data. This describes the documents, not what the office does [1]
Suspicion needed to run the system
the chapter does not address it, unlike the city police policy [1]
Audits
System activity is recorded automatically; audits "should be conducted on a regular basis" [1]
Who runs it
The Administrative Services Division Commander [1]
Camera count
not stated in the policy. The EFF Atlas of Surveillance snapshot in this repo counts five Flock cameras as of April 2024 [1] [3]

How it happened

  1. Context

    Atlas snapshot counts five Flock cameras

    The EFF Atlas of Surveillance records the office operating five Flock Safety license plate readers as of April 2024. [3]

  2. Context

    Policy manual carries an April 2024 stamp

    The policy manual posted on the county website carries a Lexipol copyright stamp of April 25, 2024. Policy 425 sets a one-year minimum retention and a written-request procedure for sharing with other law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies. [1]

What the record establishes

The Sheriff’s license plate reader rules are Policy 425, a chapter inside the office’s policy manual posted on the county website, carrying a Lexipol copyright stamp of April 25, 2024.[1]

The retention rule runs the other way from the city’s. Policy 425 says that “all ALPR data downloaded to the server should be stored for a minimum of one year and in accordance with the established records retention schedule”, after which it “should be purged unless it has become, or it is reasonable to believe it will become, evidence”.[1] Napa Police Policy 428 says its vendors “will purge their data at the end of the 30 days of storage”.[4] One is a floor of a year, the other a ceiling of a month, in the same county.

Sharing runs on a written request. The data “may be shared only with other law enforcement or prosecutorial agencies for official law enforcement purposes or as otherwise permitted by law”, where the requesting agency names itself, the person requesting and “the intended purpose of obtaining the information”, and a division commander approves before the request is filled.[1]

What the policy does not say

The chapter names no restriction on federal or out-of-state agencies and does not mention immigration enforcement. That is a statement about the document. The manual does address immigration, at Policy 413, which bars deputies from inquiring into immigration status, bars using the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System for immigration enforcement, and bars using DMV records for it. Policy 413 does not mention plate reader data.[1]

We have no record of what this office has actually shared, with whom, or when. California’s Attorney General published guidance in 2023 reading state law to bar sharing plate reader data with out-of-state and federal agencies.[2] The gap between what a policy leaves unwritten and what an agency does is exactly the gap a records request closes.

Where to ask

Ask for it in writing. The office keeps the approved sharing requests on file, by its own policy, and it keeps audit records. A records request for the sharing requests approved in the past year, and for the most recent audit, would answer the two largest questions on this page. The Napa County Board of Supervisors meets in public and takes comment.

Questions

How long does the Sheriff's Office keep plate data?
Policy 425 says data downloaded to the server "should be stored for a minimum of one year" and then purged unless it is, or may become, evidence. The city police policy takes the opposite shape and has its vendors purge at 30 days. Both agencies operate in the same county. [1] [4]
Can immigration agents get the data?
The plate reader chapter does not say. It permits sharing with law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies on a written request and names no restriction on federal or out-of-state agencies. The manual's immigration chapter bars immigration inquiries and bars using state telecommunications and DMV records for immigration enforcement, and it does not mention plate reader data. We hold no record of what has actually been shared. [1]
Is that allowed?
California's Attorney General issued guidance in 2023 reading state law to bar sharing plate reader data with out-of-state and federal agencies. That guidance applies whatever a local policy says. What we can show is the text of the policy as posted and the text of the guidance; we have no record of any sharing by this office either way. [1] [2]

On the map

The community has mapped 52 devices of this type in the county on OpenStreetMap. These are community reports: the vendor and operator of each point are unverified, and none is confirmed to belong to this system. See them on the map →

Street names from reverse geocoding — © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

What we do not know

What you can do

Show up

Systems like this one are approved by boards, councils and committees that meet in public. We have not yet confirmed where each of them meets in Napa County.

What we have documented in Napa County →

Protect yourself

Practical steps to shrink your personal data trail. Our guides publish at launch; until then, EFF's Surveillance Self-Defense is the best starting point.

Surveillance Self-Defense →

Sources

  1. 1.
    Napa County Sheriff's Office Policy Manual, Policy 425 (Automated License Plate Readers) and Policy 413 (Immigration Violations) · Primary document · accessed · archived copy
  2. 2.
    California Department of Justice, Information Bulletin 2023-DLE-06, guidance on sharing licence plate reader data · Law · accessed · archived copy
  3. 3.
    EFF Atlas of Surveillance, Napa County Sheriff's Department entries (snapshot captured 2026-08-21, rows dated April 2024) · Dataset · accessed · archived copy
  4. 4.
    Napa Police Department, Policy 428, Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) · Primary document · accessed · archived copy

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