Idaho First District U.S. Rep. Russ Fulcher has joined as a co-sponsor of federal legislation aimed at closing a gap in privacy protections: nothing in current law stops federal agencies from pulling data out of state and local surveillance systems without a warrant.

The bill in question, H.R. 9716, carries the full name Protecting Rights in Video and Equipment Acquired Discovery Act. Texas Republican Rep. Keith Self introduced it on July 15. It has not yet been voted on in committee.

Under the measure, federal law enforcement would need approval from a federal judge before accessing data stored in state and local surveillance systems in most circumstances. Technologies covered include automated license plate readers such as Flock cameras, cameras recording vehicle occupants, long-range microphones, and electronic fingerprint detection equipment.

The bill also sets limits on how long federally obtained data can be held, unless a court approves an extension or the records are necessary for an active prosecution. Federal funds could not be used to buy or install covered surveillance devices, though exceptions exist for highway toll systems, school violence prevention programs, certain law enforcement grants, and portable systems deployed under a valid warrant for specific operations.

Fulcher spoke with the Idaho Capital Sun on August 12 about why he signed on. His office regularly surveys constituents who reach out by email, and data privacy has come up repeatedly as a top concern. “The data privacy stuff, especially recently with the Flock cameras, that has got a lot of people on edge,” he told the Idaho Capital Sun. His position on the warrant requirement was direct: “If the federal government wants to access state and local systems’ data on citizens, they need to get a warrant.”

Documented Misuse Behind the Push

The legislation comes as automated license plate reader networks have drawn mounting scrutiny. In Caldwell, close to 100 residents showed up to city council chambers in July to raise concerns about the cameras, with roughly a dozen people speaking during the meeting.

Idaho passed a law in 2025 restricting license plate reader use to investigations of felony or misdemeanor crimes, traffic accidents, and searches for missing or endangered individuals. That law, however, only governs local agencies and has already shown its limits.

Twin Falls camera systems were queried at least 631 times for immigration-related purposes during March, May, and June of 2026, with those searches originating from outside the state. The Twin Falls Police Department overhauled its network-sharing policies after the searches came to light, bringing the department back into compliance with state law and its own internal immigration search restrictions.

Personal misuse has also been documented. Former Jerome County Sheriff George Oppedyk ran searches on his wife’s vehicle through Flock systems hundreds of times from July through September 2025. He retired in April. That case fits a troubling national picture: by early August, at least 50 law enforcement officers around the country had been charged or accused of misusing Flock cameras to track women.

The Federal Gap

Idaho’s 2025 state law governs how local departments can use the data they collect, but it does not reach federal agencies that want to pull from those same systems. H.R. 9716 is written to address that specific gap. A local agency can follow every rule on the books and still have its data accessed by a federal agency operating without judicial oversight.

Whether the bill moves forward will depend on committee action and broader congressional interest in placing new limits on how federal law enforcement taps into locally managed surveillance infrastructure.

North Idaho Republican Staff