Collin County Sheriff | North Texas Fusion Center
A regional intelligence center run from McKinney since 2006, which the county's own operating document places under the Commissioners Court. Its analysts are paid from federal homeland security grants the Court accepts, and in 2024 the Court bought extremism monitoring software for it without bidding.
At a glance
- Who governs it
- The county's 2014 concept of operations: "The Collin County Commissioners' Court provides the authority under which the North Central Texas Fusion Center operates" [1]
- Who runs it today
- The Sheriff's Office, which submits its grant applications and whose page on the county website carries it [9] [10]
- How it is paid for
- Federal homeland security grants passed through the Office of the Governor, and county funds according to the 2014 concept of operations. In August 2026 the Court accepted $295,412.53 and $72,705 for fiscal year 2025 [1] [8]
- Largest fusion center grant in the agendas we read
- $295,412.53, accepted 10 August 2026 [8]
- Software bought for it
- Monitoring software from SITE Intelligence Group, $94,500, exempted from competitive bidding as a sole source, approved on the consent agenda 1 April 2024 [5] [6] [7]
- How many staff it has now
- Not stated in the agendas or grant documents we read. The 2014 document lists seventeen [1]
- What data it keeps, and for how long
- Not stated in any Commissioners Court item we read. The county website links a privacy policy whose file dates from 2013 [10]
How it happened
- Deployment
The center opens
According to the county's concept of operations, the North Central Texas Fusion Center "became operational in February 2006" under the county's Homeland Security Department. [1]
- Context
The concept of operations
The county's concept of operations, dated this day, states that the Commissioners Court provides the center's authority and "also governs the NCTFC operations". It lists "Case support and database searches" among the center's services. [1]
- Debate
Keeping the analysts when a grant runs late
With the grant paying four Sheriff's Office positions due to expire, the Court discusses county policy on grant-funded jobs and approves moving the four into vacant detention positions for 60 days at their current salaries, 4-0. [2] [3]
- Procurement
Analyst grants budgeted
The Court sets up budgets of $144,422 for the "UASI Regional Fusion Center Analysts Grant" and $45,000 for the "IISC Fusion Center Analyst Grant". [4]
- Procurement
Monitoring software, without bidding
On the consent agenda, the Court exempts a contract with SITE Intelligence Group for "Fusion Center DVE Monitoring Software" from competitive bidding as a sole source and awards it, 5-0. The Purchasing Agent's memo gives the amount as $94,500. [5] [6] [7]
- Procurement
A $239,937.69 analyst grant
On the consent agenda, the Court accepts the "FY2025 UASI Regional Fusion Center Analyst Grant award in the amount of $239,937.69". The grant award names FEMA's Homeland Security Grant Program as the source. [11] [12]
- Debate
Funding delayed again
At the 2 February meeting the Court takes up an item from its 26 January agenda, an update "concerning funding after January 31, 2026", after the regional council of governments reports that federal homeland security grant money is delayed. The item goes to executive session and is approved 5-0. [13] [14]
- Procurement
Fiscal year 2025 grants accepted
The Court accepts "the FY25 UASI-Fusion Center grant award in the amount of $295,412.53" and "the FY25 Collin County Fusion Center Specialist grant in the amount of $72,705". [8] [15]
A fusion center is an office where analysts gather and share information among police, federal agencies and other partners. Collin County runs one of its own, in McKinney, and the county’s own document describes it as part of the national network of state and regional fusion centers.
A county center with a regional reach
The county’s concept of operations, dated 2 September 2014 and still linked from the Sheriff’s Office page, says the North Central Texas Fusion Center “became operational in February 2006”. It says “The Collin County Commissioners’ Court provides the authority under which the North Central Texas Fusion Center operates” and that the Court “also governs the NCTFC operations”.[1]
The same document describes the center’s aim as prevention “within the North Central Texas region”, across 16 counties. Among its services it lists “Case support and database searches”, and among its information sources it names “private citizens”. It describes a network of Fusion Liaison Officers drawn from police, fire, schools, businesses and other organizations who pass information to the center.[1]
The county website now calls it the North Texas Fusion Center and lists it under the Sheriff’s Office.[10] The Sheriff’s Office submits its grant applications.[9]
Paid for by grants the Court accepts
Most of the center’s items in the Commissioners Court agendas are grants. The money is federal, from FEMA’s Urban Area Security Initiative, and reaches the county through the Office of the Governor.[12]
- In December 2023 the Court set up budgets of $144,422 for the “UASI Regional Fusion Center Analysts Grant” and $45,000 for the “IISC Fusion Center Analyst Grant”.[4]
- In October 2024 it accepted the “FY2025 UASI Regional Fusion Center Analyst Grant award in the amount of $239,937.69” on the consent agenda.[11]
- In March 2026 the Sheriff’s Office applied for another. The application says the grant “will be used exclusively to pay the salary of the Fusion Center Intelligence Analyst”.[9]
- In August 2026 the Court accepted “the FY25 UASI-Fusion Center grant award in the amount of $295,412.53” and “the FY25 Collin County Fusion Center Specialist grant in the amount of $72,705”.[8][15]
Twice the Court has had to decide what to do when the grant money ran late. On 18 September 2023 it discussed an item titled “Texas Fusion Center grant funding”. The minutes record that the grant paid four Sheriff’s Office positions and was about to expire, and that county policy ends grant-funded jobs when the grant ends. The Court approved “the temporary reclassification of four (4) vacant Detention Officer positions to one (1) Victim Assistance Coordinator, two (2) Research Analysts and one (1) Research Specialist”, 4-0.[2][3]
In early 2026 the regional council of governments reported that federal homeland security grants were delayed by litigation. The Court took up an update “concerning funding after January 31, 2026”, discussed it in executive session and approved the item 5-0. The minutes do not record the details.[13][14]
Monitoring software, bought as a sole source
On 1 April 2024 the Court awarded a contract for “Fusion Center DVE Monitoring Software” to “IG, LLC d/b/a SITE Intelligence Group”. The same motion granted an exemption from competitive bidding on the ground that SITE is the only source.[5][6] It passed on the consent agenda, the block of routine items the Court approves in one motion.
DVE is the grant program’s abbreviation for domestic violent extremism. The Purchasing Agent’s memo puts the award at $94,500 and names the products as SITE’s SourceFeed, SearchFeed and Enterprise Services.[7] The vendor’s sworn sole source statement, attached to the item, describes the product as an extremist database. Nothing attached to the item says what the center uses the software to watch.
What the record does not say
The agendas we read from January 2019 to September 2026 do not show the Commissioners Court reviewing what the center collects, how long it keeps it, or who it shares it with. The county website links a privacy policy whose file was created in March 2013. The 2014 concept of operations says an Executive Advisory Board guides the center’s policies. We could not find that board in the Court’s agendas.
We have not read the center’s record before 2019, when it was founded and first funded.
What we do not know
- What databases the center's analysts can search, and whether they include plate reader reads.
- What the SITE Intelligence Group software monitors, and who decides which people or groups it is used on.
- Whether the center's privacy policy has been revised since 2013, and whether the Commissioners Court has reviewed it.
- Whether the center has an Executive Advisory Board today, and who sits on it.
- How many people work at the center, and how many are paid from grants.
- What the Court decided in executive session on 2 February 2026.
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 Collin County and how public comment works there.
How to show up in Collin 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.
- 2.
- 3. Collin County Court Order 2023-867-09-18, temporary reclassification of four positions · Primary document · · accessed
- 4. Collin County Commissioners Court, agenda, 4 December 2023 · Meeting record · · accessed
- 5. Collin County Commissioners Court, agenda, 1 April 2024, consent item AI-55744 · Meeting record · · accessed
- 6. Collin County Court Order 2024-355-04-01, SITE Intelligence Group sole source award · Primary document · · accessed
- 7. Collin County Purchasing Agent, memo to the Commissioners Court, Sole Source Provider, 20 March 2024, attached to AI-55744 · Primary document · · accessed
- 8. Collin County Commissioners Court, agenda, 10 August 2026, items AI-60535 and AI-60536 · Meeting record · · accessed
- 9.
- 10. Collin County Sheriff's Office, North Texas Fusion Center page · Primary document · · accessed
- 11. Collin County Commissioners Court, agenda, 28 October 2024, consent item AI-56910 · Meeting record · · accessed
- 12.
- 13.
- 14. Collin County Commissioners Court, supplemental meeting minutes, 2 February 2026 · Meeting record · · accessed
- 15. Collin County Court Order 2026-836-08-10, acceptance of the fiscal year 2025 UASI Fusion Center Grant · Primary document · · accessed
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.
One click to unsubscribe. What we do with your address is on the newsletter page.