Rental vehicles: law enforcement

The law aims to help the public distinguish legitimate law-enforcement vehicles from ordinary or impersonating vehicles during police encounters.

What the law does ​

• Requires privately owned vehicles rented or furnished to federal, state, or local law-enforcement agencies for detaining, arresting, or transporting people to display a temporary decal with the agency name and logo.
• Requires the decal to be affixed by the operating government entity on the front door panels, in contrasting and daylight-legible lettering visible from 50 feet.
• Exempts specified plainclothes, emergency, tactical, protective, surveillance, undercover, and investigative uses, plus certain warrant-based post-arrest transports where a decal would compromise safety or security.
• Allows the Attorney General, district attorneys, county counsel, and city attorneys to seek court orders against the entity renting a noncompliant vehicle, with fees and costs available to a prevailing plaintiff.
• Requires rental contracts to state that compliance with state law is mandatory and permits contracts to require the law-enforcement agency to indemnify the private owner.

Who it affects ​

• Federal, state, and local law-enforcement agencies using privately owned rental or furnished vehicles for covered enforcement functions.
• Entities that rent vehicles from private owners for those agencies.
• Private vehicle owners and rental-contract parties.

Context ​

The decal and rental-contract requirements do not apply to contracts entered before January 1, 2027.