Police Pursuit Laws by State
Only 10 of 51 US jurisdictions restrict police vehicle pursuits by statewide law. In the other 41, each police department writes its own pursuit policy — which is why "no-chase state" lists you see elsewhere are usually wrong. Pick your state below for the statute (if one exists), what it actually says, and whether police there will chase a motorcycle.
Restrictive statute statewide statute limits pursuits to serious offenses Statewide conditions statewide conditions apply Pursuit-friendly law or policy trend favors pursuing Agency discretion no statewide restriction — department policy decides
| State | Statewide restriction | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Agency discretion | — |
| Alaska | Agency discretion | AS 28.35.182; 13 AAC 02.517 (emergency vehicle exemptions, not a pursuit restriction) |
| Arizona | Pursuit-friendly | — |
| Arkansas | Agency discretion | — |
| California | Agency discretion | Cal. Veh. Code § 17004.7 |
| Colorado | Agency discretion | C.R.S. § 18-9-116.5 (vehicular eluding, criminal penalty only) |
| Connecticut | Statewide conditions | Conn. Gen. Stat. § 14-283a |
| Delaware | Agency discretion | 11 Del. C. § 1935 (fresh pursuit, jurisdictional authority only); 21 Del. C. § 4103 (fleeing/eluding offense) |
| District of Columbia | Restrictive statute | D.C. Code § 5-365.02 (Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022, as amended by D.C. Law 25-175, June 2024 "Secure DC") |
| Florida | Pursuit-friendly | — |
| Georgia | Pursuit-friendly | O.C.G.A. § 40-6-6 (emergency vehicle privileges/liability shield); O.C.G.A. § 35-1-14 (requires agencies to adopt a written pursuit policy) |
| Hawaii | Agency discretion | — |
| Idaho | Agency discretion | Idaho Code 49-623 (emergency vehicle privileges); Idaho Code 49-1404 (eluding a peace officer) |
| Illinois | Agency discretion | — |
| Indiana | Statewide conditions | IC 5-2-1-9 (statewide minimum standards mandate); Law Enforcement Training Board 'Uniform Statewide Policy on Minimum Standards for Vehicle Pursuits,' effective Jan. 1, 2023 |
| Iowa | Agency discretion | Iowa Code 321.231 (authorized emergency vehicle privileges); Iowa Code 321.279 (eluding); Iowa Code 804.13 (pursuit intervention technique) |
| Kansas | Agency discretion | K.S.A. 8-1568 (fleeing/eluding, not a pursuit restriction) |
| Kentucky | Agency discretion | KRS 61.298 ("Jill's Law" — requires agencies to adopt a written pursuit policy) |
| Louisiana | Agency discretion | La. R.S. 32:24 (emergency vehicle privileges during pursuit, not a restriction) |
| Maine | Agency discretion | 25 M.R.S. §2803-B (requires law enforcement agencies to adopt a high-speed pursuit policy) |
| Maryland | Agency discretion | Md. Transportation Code §19-103; Md. Courts & Judicial Proceedings §5-639 (gross-negligence liability standard, not a pursuit restriction) |
| Massachusetts | Agency discretion | — |
| Michigan | Agency discretion | — |
| Minnesota | Statewide conditions | Minn. Stat. § 626.8458 |
| Mississippi | Agency discretion | Miss. Code § 45-1-43 (policy-adoption requirement); § 97-9-72, § 97-9-73 (fleeing/eluding penalties) |
| Missouri | Agency discretion | Mo. Rev. Stat. § 544.157 (policy-adoption requirement) |
| Montana | Agency discretion | MCA 61-8-107 (privileges/conditions for emergency vehicles; not a pursuit restriction) |
| Nebraska | Agency discretion | Neb. Rev. Stat. 29-211 (agency policy-adoption mandate); 13-911 (third-party liability) |
| Nevada | Agency discretion | NRS 484B.700 (equipment/privileges, not a pursuit restriction) |
| New Hampshire | Agency discretion | RSA 265:8-a (agency policy-adoption mandate only) |
| New Jersey | Statewide conditions | N.J. AG Law Enforcement Directive 2022-4 / Use of Force Policy Addendum B (Vehicular Pursuit Policy), not a legislative statute |
| New Mexico | Statewide conditions | NMSA 1978 §§ 29-20-1 to 29-20-4 (Law Enforcement Safe Pursuit Act) |
| New York | Agency discretion | — |
| North Carolina | Agency discretion | N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-141.5 |
| North Dakota | Agency discretion | N.D. Cent. Code § 39-10-71 (fleeing/eluding, not a pursuit-restriction statute) |
| Ohio | Agency discretion | Ohio Rev. Code § 2935.031 (policy-adoption mandate); § 2921.331 (fleeing/failure to comply) |
| Oklahoma | Agency discretion | — |
| Oregon | Agency discretion | — |
| Pennsylvania | Agency discretion | 75 Pa.C.S. § 6342-6343 |
| Rhode Island | Statewide conditions | R.I. Gen. Laws §31-27-4.1, §31-27-4.2 |
| South Carolina | Restrictive statute | S.C. Code §23-23-85 (Act 218, 2022, effective Jan. 1 2023) |
| South Dakota | Agency discretion | SDCL 32-33-18, 32-33-18.2 (eluding, not pursuit restriction); SDCL 23-3 (agency organization) |
| Tennessee | Agency discretion | Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-8-108 |
| Texas | Agency discretion | Tex. Transp. Code § 545.421 (evading arrest; suspect offense only) |
| Utah | Agency discretion | Utah Code §41-6a-212; Utah Code §41-6a-210 (fleeing/eluding); Utah Admin. Code R728-503 |
| Vermont | Agency discretion | 23 V.S.A. §1015 (fresh-pursuit privileges); no separate pursuit-restriction statute found |
| Virginia | Agency discretion | — |
| Washington | Statewide conditions | RCW 10.116.060 |
| West Virginia | Agency discretion | W. Va. Code § 17C-2-5 |
| Wisconsin | Statewide conditions | Wis. Stat. § 346.03(6) |
| Wyoming | Agency discretion | Wyo. Stat. § 31-5-225 (fleeing/eluding, not a pursuit-restriction statute) |
Verified against statutes, legislative records, and department policies, August 2026. Spot an error? Use the feedback form below.