Missouri leaders react to Gov. Kehoe's executive order restricting license plate reader cameras

Our Take

Credit to KSDK News for capturing the split-screen reality of this moment: a governor drawing a line on how long police and vendors can hoard your driving history, while lobbyists and law enforcement groups scramble to explain why 30 days is either a reasonable compromise or a threat to public safety. That tension is the whole ballgame with ALPR policy right now — everyone agrees the cameras aren't going away, so the fight has shifted to who controls the data and for how long.

An executive order is a start, not a finish line. It can be rewritten by the next governor, ignored by agencies dragging their feet, or quietly worked around by vendors who share data across jurisdictions and states. Missouri lawmakers now have the receipts to turn this into statute with real teeth — audit requirements, retention caps, and penalties for noncompliance — instead of a policy that lives or dies with one administration's priorities.

If you're in Missouri or anywhere else with ALPR creep, don't wait for Jefferson City to finish this fight for you. Check our camera map to see what's already watching your town, and hit up our take-action page for tools to push your own city council and state reps toward real limits — not just a governor's order that can vanish with the next election.