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Ada County Sheriff | Axon plate readers

In August 2026 the Sheriff told a Boise television station that his office had installed 20 Axon plate reader cameras across the county, seven of them in Kuna. After Kuna's mayor asked, the Kuna cameras came down on 8 September.

At a glance

How many cameras
20 across Ada County, seven of them in Kuna, as KIVI reported the Sheriff saying in August 2026 [1]
Where
not published. Eagle's police chief said the Sheriff's Office does not discuss specific locations, as reported. Seven were in Kuna before they came down [1] [3]
The cost
$2,296.39 a year per camera, a subscription covering installation, service and maintenance, as reported [1]
How long images are kept
60 days, as reported [1] [3]
Who approved it
not established. The Board of County Commissioners' record is unread. No Kuna City Council agenda from April 2023 to September 2026 carried an item on plate readers [5]
Kuna
Removed 8 September 2026 at the mayor's request, according to the Sheriff's Office as reported [2]
What state law requires
Use only to investigate crimes or accidents or to find missing or endangered people, access controls, training, a log of every query and audits of that log twice a year. No retention limit [4]

How it happened

  1. Context

    Idaho's plate reader law takes effect

    Senate Bill 1180 adds section 49-1432 to the Idaho Code. It limits law enforcement use to investigating crimes and traffic accidents and searching for missing or endangered people, and requires a log of every query and "semiannual audits" of that log. It sets no retention period and does not require a governing body to approve a system. [4]

  2. Debate

    A resident asks Kuna's council to take up plate readers

    In public comment, a Kuna resident asks the council to schedule a public discussion of automated license plate readers in the city and says he believes the city is in contact with Flock Safety. The mayor takes his contact details and says he will follow up. No later agenda through 15 September 2026 lists such a discussion. [5]

  3. Coverage

    The Sheriff describes 20 cameras

    KIVI reports Sheriff Matt Clifford saying the office recently installed 20 Axon cameras across Ada County, seven of them in Kuna, that images are deleted after 60 days, and that the office opted out of sharing data with Axon or other agencies. [1]

  4. Coverage

    The Gem State Chronicle reports Eagle's police chief

    The Gem State Chronicle reports Eagle Police Chief Travis Ruby telling a chamber of commerce luncheon that the plate readers are run by the Sheriff's Office, not the city, that three employees have direct access, and that the office has about twenty units in the county. [3]

  5. Coverage

    The Kuna cameras come down

    KIVI reports that the cameras in Kuna were removed on 8 September after the city asked the Sheriff's Office to take them down, and that Mayor Joe Stear asked for them to stay down until "further legislative action is taken." [2]

What we could read

Everything on this page about the cameras themselves comes from reporting, credited above. The Sheriff’s Office’s own plate reader page, its policy manual and the county commissioners’ agendas are unread.

What we could read is Kuna’s side. Kuna has no police department of its own. It buys policing from the Sheriff’s Office under a joint powers agreement its council renews each September on the consent agenda. On 7 July 2026, in public comment, a resident asked the council to schedule a public discussion of plate readers in the city. The mayor took his contact details and said he would follow up. Through 15 September 2026, no council agenda listed such a discussion, and none of the council’s agendas from April 2023 onward carried an item on plate readers, cameras or Axon.

The law these cameras run under

Idaho’s plate reader statute took effect in July 2025. It limits what an agency may use a reader for and requires access controls, training, a log of every search and an audit of that log twice a year. It says nothing about how long plate reads may be kept or who may receive them, and it does not require a city council or county board to approve a system before it goes up.

What happened in Kuna

The cameras went up in Kuna in August 2026, according to KIVI, which reported resident objections and a petition to the mayor. The mayor asked the Sheriff’s Office to take them down, and KIVI reports they were removed on 8 September. The rest of the 20 cameras the Sheriff described are elsewhere in the county, at locations the office has not published.

On the map

The community has mapped 119 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 Ada County and how public comment works there.

How to show up in Ada 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.
    KIVI Idaho News 6, "Kuna neighbors and the Ada County Sheriff weigh in on Kuna's new Axon camera system", 11 August 2026 · News · · accessed
  2. 2.
    KIVI Idaho News 6, "Kuna's license plate reader cameras come down after a request from the city", 14 September 2026 · News · · accessed
  3. 3.
    Gem State Chronicle, "ALPRs in Ada County", 8 September 2026 · News · · accessed
  4. 4.
    Idaho Legislature, Senate Bill 1180 (2025), enacted as Idaho Code 49-1432 · Law · · accessed
  5. 5.
    City of Kuna, City Council minutes, 7 July 2026, item 4, public comment, read with the council's agendas and minutes for 2023 to September 2026: 109 agendas and 95 sets of minutes from the city's Archive Center · Meeting record · · accessed

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