Skip to content
ORWELL INDEX
Pending deployment Updated

Tuolumne County Sheriff | License plate readers

The Board of Supervisors approved a grant application for three Axon license plate readers in July 2025, and the money arrived in January 2026. Deployment was scheduled for summer 2026. We found no purchase authorization and no usage policy on any Board agenda since the vote.

At a glance

Devices
3 license plate readers, planned [2]
Vendor
Axon Enterprise [2]
Project cost
$151,399, including a $116,287 federal grant [2]
Scheduled deployment
Summer 2026 [2]
Deployed as of 14 August 2026
no; the Sheriff says none have been implemented [9]
Data retention period
not stated in the grant memo or in any Board record we reviewed [2]
Required privacy policy (SB 34)
none found published [5]

How it happened

  1. Context

    The Sheriff's Office reports no license plate readers to the State Auditor

    Responding to a California State Auditor survey on license plate readers, the office selected "none of the above" when asked what it operates or accesses, and "making no plans to implement or access an ALPR system," ALPR being the standard acronym for the readers. [1]

  2. Decision

    The Board approves a grant application for three license plate readers

    On the regular calendar, with Sheriff Vasquez speaking to the item and taking supervisors' questions, the Board voted unanimously to let the county transportation council apply for a federal Safe Streets and Roads for All grant on the office's behalf. One member of the public commented. The staff memo behind the item names a contract with Axon for three license plate recognition cameras, a project cost of $151,399, and camera deployment in summer 2026. [3] [2]

  3. Decision

    The grant is awarded

    The transportation council receives a $307,000 award, roughly double the camera project's $151,399 cost, spanning a wider road-safety program. The announcement lists components including public awareness and education, law enforcement training, targeted enforcement, "real-time monitoring equipment and technology," and extended transit service. It does not mention license plate readers or cameras. [4]

  4. Context

    The deployment window opens with no further Board item

    The staff memo had committed the office to returning to the Board to accept the grant and authorize specific purchases. We reviewed Board agendas and packets from July 2025 through August 2026 and found no acceptance item, no purchase authorization, and no license plate reader policy. [6] [2]

  5. Coverage

    The Sheriff states that no readers have been implemented

    In a statement issued as scrutiny of Flock Safety grew, Sheriff David Vasquez says the office has not implemented any license plate reader devices, has spent more than a year researching the technology and discussing it with the community, and is still evaluating whether and how to proceed, including contract costs and policies. He says the office does not collect or maintain reader data from other agencies; when a search would assist an investigation, it asks the agency that operates the system to run the search and share what is relevant. [9]

In 2019 the California State Auditor surveyed law enforcement agencies across the state about license plate readers. The Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office answered that it did not operate or access one, and that it was making no plans to.[1]

How it was approved

On 15 July 2025 the Board of Supervisors took up the office’s first license plate readers. The item sat on the regular calendar, Sheriff David Vasquez spoke to it and took supervisors’ questions, one member of the public spoke, and the vote was unanimous.[3] The staff memo behind it names the equipment: a contract with Axon for three license plate recognition cameras, in a project costing $151,399, with the cameras due in summer 2026.[2]

The memo describes what the cameras will do, listing drunk driving, outstanding warrants and repeat offenders. It does not set a retention period, name who may query the data, or state which agencies will receive it. Coverage of the meeting paraphrased the Sheriff as promising limited use with checks and balances and audits of the information pulled; his quoted words were that the system would be used only where there is a “right to know, and a need to know.”[7] We could not find those procedures in writing.

How it was paid for

The money arrived in January 2026: a $307,000 award, announced as paying for public awareness, enforcement training, and “real-time monitoring equipment and technology.” The announcement does not mention cameras or license plate readers.[4]

What the agency says

The memo had also committed the office to returning to the Board to accept the grant and authorize the purchase. We read the Board’s agendas and packets from July 2025 through August 2026 and found no acceptance item, no purchase authorization, and no license plate reader policy.[6] On 14 August 2026 the Sheriff said why: the office has not implemented any readers, has spent more than a year researching the technology and discussing it with the community, and is still weighing contract costs and policies. He said the office does not hold reader data from other agencies, and that when a search would help an investigation it asks the agency that runs the system to search its own records.[9]

What governs it

State law requires an agency that operates readers to publish a usage and privacy policy; we could not find one for the office, and the manual it published in December 2025 mentions readers only in a list of data types that trigger breach notification.[8][5]

Questions

Does the Tuolumne County Sheriff operate license plate readers?
Not yet. Three were approved and funded, with deployment scheduled for summer 2026, but on 14 August 2026 the Sheriff stated that the office has not implemented any license plate reader devices and is still evaluating whether and how to proceed. [9] [2]
How long will the data be kept, and who can search it?
The staff memo does not say. It sets no retention period, names no one who may query the data, and states no data-sharing terms. Local coverage of the vote paraphrased the Sheriff as describing limited use with checks and balances and audits of the information pulled; his directly quoted words were that it would be used only where there is a "right to know, and a need to know." We could not find those procedures in writing. [2] [7]
Is a published privacy policy required?
Yes. California Civil Code section 1798.90.51, from Senate Bill 34, requires an agency that operates license plate readers to post a usage and privacy policy covering what is collected, who may access it, and how long it is kept. We could not find one for the Sheriff's Office. The office's published policy manual, revised in December 2025, mentions license plate readers only in a list of data types that trigger breach notification. [8] [5]

On the map

The community has mapped 13 devices of this type in the county on OpenStreetMap. These are community reports: the vendor and operator of each point are unverified, and none is confirmed to belong to this system. See them on the map →

Street names from reverse geocoding — © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

What we do not know

What you can do

Show up

Systems like this one are approved by boards, councils and committees that meet in public. We have confirmed where each of them meets in Tuolumne County and how public comment works there.

How to show up in Tuolumne County →

Protect yourself

Practical steps to shrink your personal data trail. Our guides publish at launch; until then, EFF's Surveillance Self-Defense is the best starting point.

Surveillance Self-Defense →

Sources

  1. 1.
    California State Auditor, report 2019-118, Tuolumne County Sheriff survey response · Dataset · accessed · archived copy
  2. 2.
    Tuolumne County Sheriff, Safer Streets grant staff memo to the Board of Supervisors · Primary document · · accessed
  3. 3.
    Board of Supervisors minutes, meeting of July 15, 2025 (item 14) · Meeting record · · accessed
  4. 4.
    myMotherLode, "Federal Grant to Reduce DUIs and Improve Roadway Safety" · News · · accessed · archived copy
  5. 5.
    Tuolumne County Sheriff's Office policy manual, revision of December 18, 2025 · Primary document · · accessed · archived copy
  6. 6.
    Board of Supervisors agenda and minutes archive · Meeting record · accessed · archived copy
  7. 7.
    myMotherLode, "Tuolumne County To Seek DUI/Drug Enforcement Training And Cameras" · News · · accessed · archived copy
  8. 8.
    Senate Bill 34 (2015), Civil Code sections 1798.90.5 and following · Law · accessed · archived copy
  9. 9.
    myMotherLode, "City Of Sonora And Law Enforcement Says It Does Not Use Flock Safety Cameras" · News · · accessed · archived copy

Get the digest

A regular digest of what changed in the world of surveillance: the counties we published, the devices that appeared on the map, and the public meetings where these decisions get made. We send it when there is enough to report.

Subscribe to the newsletter

One click to unsubscribe. What we do with your address is on the newsletter page.