Midland County Sheriff | Sheriff's drones
The Midland County Sheriff's Office has acquired at least seven aircraft since 2017, nearly all of them paid for out of its donation account, and five of them were bought before the Commissioners Court was asked about them.
At a glance
- Who flies them
- The Midland County Sheriff's Office, which the minutes refer to as having a drone team. The county's Emergency Management office runs a separate aircraft of its own [3] [4] [2]
- How many
- At least seven at the Sheriff's Office: one donated in 2017, five acknowledged in August 2023 and one bought in July 2024. A second July 2024 item approved five aircraft already bought from the same supplier, which the record does not say are or are not the 2023 five. Emergency Management bought one of its own in 2020 [1] [3] [4] [2]
- What the county has posted spending
- $14,577.97 for the July 2024 aircraft. The 2023 purchase of one DJI M30T and four M3T aircraft carries no price in the record, and neither does the batch of five approved after the fact [4] [3]
- Who paid
- The Sheriff's Office donation account for every aircraft from 2023 on. The first was a private donation in 2017, valued at $1,500.00. Emergency Management's was a budgeted item [1] [3] [4] [2]
- When they fly
- No county record describes a mission, a flight or a policy. There is no flight log, no annual report and no use policy anywhere in twelve years of agendas and minutes
- What they carry
- Not stated. The 2023 item names two DJI models and nothing else [3]
How it happened
- Deployment
A donated aircraft
The Sheriff's chief deputy brought the Court the donation of a Phantom III drone to the Sheriff's Office from a private individual, estimated value $1,500.00. Accepted. [1]
- Procurement
Emergency Management buys its own
The county's Risk Manager brought a budgeted purchase of a drone for Emergency Management, which the county has insured ever since. [2] [5]
- Expansion
Five aircraft, on donations
The Court acknowledged the purchase of one large DJI M30T and four smaller M3T drones for the Sheriff's Office, "Using the donation account". The item is an acknowledgement rather than an authorization: the aircraft were bought first. [3]
- Expansion
One more, and five made official
The Sheriff brought a quote for $14,577.97 for another drone from the donation account, and in the very next item asked the Court to approve five aircraft already bought from Unmanned Vehicle Technologies, LLC on the same account. Both passed. The minutes do not say whether those five are the five acknowledged in August 2023. [4]
The EFF Atlas of Surveillance records two DJI aircraft at the Midland County Sheriff’s Office as of 2015. The county’s own minutes show a fleet that grew steadily after that and was almost entirely funded by gifts: an aircraft donated by a resident in 2017, five bought on the donation account in 2023, another in 2024 for $14,577.97, and five more that the Court was asked to approve after they had already been bought.
What the record does not contain is a single flight. In twelve years of agendas and minutes there is no mission, no annual report, no flight log and no policy saying when the Sheriff’s Office may put an aircraft over a Midland County address.
What we do not know
- How often does the Sheriff's Office fly, and for what?
- Is there a written policy on when a drone may be flown and what may be recorded?
- What is kept from a flight, for how long, and who can see it?
- How many aircraft does the office hold, and what did they cost in total?
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 Midland County and how public comment works there.
How to show up in Midland 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
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- 5. Midland County Commissioners Court, minutes of 8 November 2021, item 24, the unmanned aircraft insurance renewal · Meeting record · · accessed
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