Local Government Vehicle Identification System on Interstate Highways

Second Regular Session Seventy-fifth General Assembly STATE OF COLORADO REVISED This Version Includes All Amendments Adopted on Second Reading in the Second House HOUSE BILL 26-1071 LLS NO. 26-0608.01 Renee Leone x2695 HOUSE SPONSORSHIP Mauro and Duran, Froelich, Woodrow SENATE SPONSORSHIP House Committees Senate Committees Transportation, Housing & Local Government Local Government & Housing A BILL FOR AN ACT CONCERNING ALLOWING A LOCAL GOVERNMENT TO LOCATE AN AUTOMATED INTERSTATE HIGHWAY.

VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM ON AN Current law allows the state to locate an automated vehicle identification system (AVIS) on a highway that is part of the federal interstate highway system but prohibits a county, city and county, or municipality (local government) from doing so. The bill authorizes a local government to locate an AVIS on a highway that is part of the federal Shading denotes HOUSE amendment. Double underlining denotes SENATE amendment.

Capital letters or bold & italic numbers indicate new material to be added to existing law. Dashes through the words or numbers indicate deletions from existing law.

February 23, 2026 HOUSE (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does not reflect any amendments that may be subsequently adopted. If this bill passes third reading in the house of introduction, a bill summary that applies to the reengrossed version of this bill will be available at http://leg.colorado.gov.) 3rd Reading Unamended Bill Summary HOUSE Amended 2nd Reading February 19, 2026 SENATE Amended 2nd Reading April 20, 2026 Cutter, interstate highway system.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:

SECTION 1. Legislative declaration. (1) The general assembly finds and declares that:

(a) Municipalities have primary response authority for traffic enforcement on portions of federal interstates located in their jurisdiction pursuant to section 43-2-135 (1)(g), Colorado Revised Statutes;

(b) It is dangerous to conduct in-person traffic enforcement on interstate highways, and municipalities expend significant resources responding to traffic incidents on federal interstates;

(c) Automated vehicle identification systems, referred to in this section as "AVIS", are a safe and effective way to conduct traffic enforcement that municipalities have been utilizing for at least 30 years;

(d) In 1997, the general assembly adopted the first state law regarding utilization of AVIS throughout Colorado. The law has been amended from time to time but has remained in effect since that time.

(e) Federal prohibitions on masking convictions for traffic control violations by commercial driver's license holders pursuant to 49 CFR 384.226 have never been implicated by the use of AVIS in the United States;

(f) Federal masking is not implicated by AVIS because AVIS violations result in administrative citations and penalties imposed on the vehicle owner, not traffic control convictions, as that term is used in 49 CFR 384.226, imposed on the driver;

(g) Federal masking is only implicated where the identity of the driver is known, a conviction is obtained, and a deliberate decision is made not to place the conviction on the driving record;

(h) AVIS are separate and distinct from automated license plate readers in that AVIS do not continuously capture data for every passing vehicle and instead only activate and capture data when certain traffic violations occur;

(i) Under section 42-4-110.5 (7)(b), Colorado Revised Statutes, photographs or videos collected by AVIS are confidential and exempt from disclosure and inspection under the "Colorado Open Records Act";

and

(j) Under section 24-74-103, Colorado Revised Statutes, state and political subdivision employees are prohibited from disclosing personal identifying information, which includes data from AVIS, for the purpose of investigating for, participating in, cooperating with, or assisting in federal immigration enforcement.

(2) Therefore, the general assembly expressly declares that AVIS are a safe, effective, and highly regulated tool that has been successfully used solely for traffic enforcement in Colorado for decades and extending such use by local governments to interstate highways will further the traffic safety goals of this state.

SECTION 2. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 42-4-110.5, amend (2) introductory portion, (2)(g)(I), and (2)(g)(V) as follows:

42-4-110.5. Automated vehicle identification systems - school buses - exceptions to liability - penalty - contracting - limits on use of photographs and video - rules - legislative declaration - definitions.

(2) A county, city and county, or municipality may adopt an ordinance authorizing the use of an automated vehicle identification system to detect violations A VIOLATION of A traffic regulations REGULATION adopted by the county, city and county, or municipality, or the state OR a county, a city and county, or a municipality may utilize an automated vehicle identification system to detect A traffic violations VIOLATION under state law, subject to the following conditions and limitations and, as applicable, the requirements for state highways set forth in and any rules adopted by the department of transportation pursuant to subsection (2.5) of this section:

(g) (I) The state OR a county, a city and county, or a municipality shall not issue a notice of violation or civil penalty assessment notice for a violation detected using an automated vehicle identification system unless the violation occurred within a school zone, as defined in section 42-4-615; within a residential neighborhood; within a maintenance, construction, or repair zone designated pursuant to section 42-4-614;

along a street that borders a municipal park; or along a street OR STATE HIGHWAY or A portion of a street OR STATE HIGHWAY that a county, city and county, or municipality, by ordinance or by a resolution of its governing body, designates as an automated vehicle identification corridor, on which designated corridor the county, city and county, or municipality may locate an automated vehicle identification system to detect violations A VIOLATION of a TRAFFIC REGULATION ADOPTED BY THE STATE OR A county, city and county, or municipal traffic regulation or a traffic violation under state law MUNICIPALITY.

(V) (A) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (2)(g)(I) of this section, The state, A CITY AND COUNTY, OR A MUNICIPALITY may locate an automated vehicle identification system on a STATE highway that is a part of the federal interstate highway system and may issue a notice of violation or a civil penalty assessment notice for a traffic violation under state law VIOLATION OF A TRAFFIC REGULATION ADOPTED BY THE STATE, A CITY AND COUNTY, OR A MUNICIPALITY detected using the automated vehicle identification system.

(B) A county, a city and county, or a municipality shall not locate an automated vehicle identification system or create an automated vehicle identification corridor on any highway that is a part of the federal interstate highway system; EXCEPT THAT A COUNTY MAY LOCATE AN AUTOMATED VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM ON A PORTION OF SUCH A HIGHWAY THAT HAS A PEAK PERIOD SHOULDER LANE, AS DEFINED IN

SECTION 43-4-806 (11)(a), AND A COUNTY MAY ISSUE A NOTICE OF VIOLATION OR A CIVIL PENALTY FOR A VIOLATION OF A TRAFFIC REGULATION ADOPTED BY THE COUNTY DETECTED BY THAT AUTOMATED VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM.

SECTION 3. Act subject to petition - effective date. This act takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on the day following the expiration of the ninety-day period after final adjournment of the general assembly (August 12, 2026, if adjournment sine die is on May 13, 2026); except that, if a referendum petition is filed pursuant to section 1 (3) of article V of the state constitution against this act or an item, section, or part of this act within such period, then the act, item, section, or part will not take effect unless approved by the people at the general election to be held in November 2026 and, in such case, will take effect on the date of the official declaration of the vote thereon by the governor.