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Jefferson County Sheriff | License plate readers

Jefferson County's Sheriff has been putting plate readers on state highway land since 2017. In October 2025 the Commissioners Court signed a three-year agreement with Flock Safety, and in March 2026 it asked the state to let Flock place cameras in the right of way on the county's behalf.

At a glance

The current agreement
Agreement 25-061/MR with Flock Safety for the Sheriff's Office, real-time video surveillance monitoring software and equipment, $50,146.86 for the first year and $43,543.50 for annual renewals, 28 October 2025 to 27 October 2028 [3]
How it was bought
Under OMNIA contract RS250203, a cooperative purchasing contract. No bid notice described the equipment in public [3]
Cameras in the state right of way
Authorized 3 March 2026. The Court asked the Texas Department of Transportation to let Flock Safety place automatic plate recognition cameras in the right of way for the county, and authorized the Sheriff to sign the multiple-use agreement [4]
The first one
12 June 2017, a memorandum of agreement with the state highway department to locate a reader on the premises of the highway [1]
Bought with drug money
15 February 2022, a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area award raised from $16,200 to $52,100 to buy two Vigilant cameras for the Sheriff's Office [2]
How many cameras the county operates
Not stated. The minutes for the Flock agreement point to attachments at pages 43 to 484 and the file the county publishes runs to 152 pages, so the priced quote is not in the record [3]
Where the cameras are
No site list appears in any document the Court has been handed [3] [4]
How long a plate read is kept, and who can search it
No retention period, search rule or audit requirement appears in any of the 716 readable Commissioners Court documents read for this page. Texas requires no such policy to be published [3] [4]

How it happened

  1. Decision

    A reader on the highway

    The Court approves a memorandum of agreement between the Sheriff's Office and the Texas Department of Transportation to locate a license plate reader system on the premises of the highway, for enforcing the laws of the state, crime prevention and public safety. Motion by Commissioner Weaver, second by Commissioner Alfred, approved unanimously. [1]

  2. Decision

    Two Vigilant cameras, on a drug trafficking grant

    The Court accepts modification 2 to High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area award G21HN0029A, raising it from $16,200 to $52,100 for the purchase of two Vigilant cameras for the Sheriff's Office. Motion by Commissioner Alfred, second by Commissioner Sinegal, approved unanimously. [2]

  3. Decision

    Three years of Flock Safety

    The Court approves Agreement 25-061/MR with Flock Safety for the Sheriff's Office, for real-time video surveillance monitoring software and equipment, at $50,146.86 for the first year and $43,543.50 for annual renewals through 27 October 2028, under OMNIA cooperative contract RS250203. Motion by Commissioner Erickson, second by Commissioner Alfred, approved unanimously. The item is the fourth of six under Purchasing. [3]

  4. Decision

    Flock cameras in the state right of way

    The Court adopts a resolution authorizing the Sheriff to enter a multiple-use agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation for the installation and operation of automatic license plate recognition cameras in the state's right of way, and asking that Flock Safety be allowed to place them there on the county's behalf. The resolution states that the cameras will increase public safety and aid the Sheriff's Office in its crime prevention efforts, and takes effect immediately on adoption. Motion by Commissioner Sinegal, second by Commissioner Willis, approved unanimously. [4]

The county bought its plate readers in four steps, nine years apart at the ends.

The first was an agreement rather than a purchase. In June 2017 the Commissioners Court approved a memorandum of agreement between the Sheriff’s Office and the state highway department, so that a reader could stand on highway land. The item ran to four lines and passed unanimously with twenty-four others.

The second came from the drug war’s budget. In February 2022 the Court accepted a modification to a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area award that raised it from $16,200 to $52,100, and the item says what the money was for: two Vigilant cameras for the Sheriff’s Office.

The third is the one that is running now. In October 2025 the Court approved a three-year agreement with Flock Safety for the Sheriff’s Office, described as real-time video surveillance monitoring software and equipment, at $50,146.86 for the first year. It was bought through OMNIA, a cooperative purchasing contract, which is how a Texas county buys without a bid. Section 271.102 of the Local Government Code says that buying this way satisfies any state law requiring competitive bids, so no public notice ever described the equipment.

The fourth was five months later. In March 2026 the Court adopted a resolution asking the state highway department to let Flock Safety place automatic plate recognition cameras in the state’s right of way on the county’s behalf, and authorizing the Sheriff to sign the agreement that would allow it.

What the record does not say

How many cameras. The minutes for the October 2025 agreement direct a reader to attachments at pages 43 to 484, and the file the county publishes stops at page 152, so the priced quote that would carry the count and the model is not in the published record. No document names a location. And in the 716 readable Commissioners Court documents read for this page there is no retention period, no rule about who may run a search, and no audit requirement. Texas does not require a county to publish one.

Volunteers have mapped 197 Flock Safety devices in Jefferson County. Those are community reports rather than a county inventory, and the map does not say which of them the Sheriff operates.

On the map

The community has mapped 208 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 Jefferson County and how public comment works there.

How to show up in Jefferson 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.
    Jefferson County Commissioners Court, minutes, 12 June 2017, item 24 · Meeting record · · accessed
  2. 2.
    Jefferson County Commissioners Court, minutes, 15 February 2022, item 11 · Meeting record · · accessed
  3. 3.
    Jefferson County Commissioners Court, minutes, 28 October 2025, Purchasing item (d), Agreement 25-061/MR · Meeting record · · accessed
  4. 4.
    Jefferson County Commissioners Court, minutes and resolution, 3 March 2026, Sheriff's Department item (a) · Meeting record · · accessed

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