Williamson County Sheriff | The Sheriff's drones
In 2014 the Commissioners Court approved a list of homeland security grant projects with the drone project struck out of it. Four years later it accepted a grant funded drone program with no price, no grantor and no number of aircraft in the item. The program is now a line in the Sheriff's general fund.
At a glance
- First in the county record
- 18 March 2014, as an exclusion: the Court approved homeland security grant project proposals for the regional council "except for the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Project" [1]
- How the program arrived
- 26 June 2018: the Court accepted grant funded unmanned aerial systems, comprehensive training and program development on behalf of the county and local public safety agencies, carried unanimously, on condition that a grants questionnaire come back to the Court [2]
- What the 2018 item cost
- No dollar figure, no grantor and no number of aircraft appears in the item or the motion [2]
- How many aircraft
- Not stated in any Commissioners Court minutes we read. No purchase of an airframe appears in 913 sets of minutes covering 9 April 2013 to 15 September 2026 [6]
- How it is funded now
- As a line in the Sheriff's Office general fund, approved on 21 March 2023 for 2023-24 and future years and again on 30 June 2026 for 2026-27 [4] [5]
- Aircraft insurance
- $8,470 for the year to 1 October 2023, approved 22 November 2022 through a broker of record [7]
- A written policy or flight log
- Neither appears in the county record [6]
How it happened
- Denied
The drone project is taken out of the grant list
The Court approved homeland security grant project proposals for submittal to the Capital Area Council of Governments, and the motion carried the exclusion in its own words: every approved project worksheet except the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle project. Carried unanimously. [1]
- Decision
A grant funded program, accepted without a figure
The Court accepted grant funded unmanned aerial systems, comprehensive training and program development on behalf of the county and local public safety agencies. The Director of Emergency Management and executives of two private drone companies addressed the Court. Carried unanimously, on condition that a grants management questionnaire be submitted to the Court for review. [2]
- Deployment
A manufacturer's donation
The Court accepted the donation of a Parrot ANAFI drone from Motorola Solutions, to be used for training by the Sheriff's Office, under the Local Government Code provision for accepting gifts. [3]
- Decision
Into the general fund
The Court approved that the drone special team and its operations cost be carried in the Sheriff's Office general fund for 2023-24 and future years, the Sheriff addressing the Court. The same approval was renewed on 30 June 2026 for 2026-27. [4] [5]
The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office flies drones. The Commissioners Court has funded the team in its general fund since 2023 and renewed that in 2026. In thirteen years of the Court’s minutes there is no purchase of a single aircraft.
The 2014 refusal
On 18 March 2014 the Court took up the county’s homeland security grant proposals for the regional council. The motion that carried was not a plain approval. It approved the project worksheets “except for the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Project”, and it carried unanimously. The minutes record no discussion and give no reason.
The 2018 acceptance
On 26 June 2018 the Court accepted grant funded unmanned aerial systems, comprehensive training and program development, on behalf of the county and local public safety agencies. The Director of Emergency Management spoke, and so did executives of two private drone companies. It carried unanimously, on condition that a grants management questionnaire come back to the Court for review.
The item names no grantor, no dollar figure and no number of aircraft. It is the moment a drone program entered this county’s public record, and it contains none of the facts a reader would want.
Since then
In August 2021 a manufacturer donated a drone to the Sheriff’s Office for training. In November 2022 the county bought aircraft insurance for $8,470. In March 2023 the Court moved the drone special team and its operating cost into the Sheriff’s general fund for that year and future years, and in June 2026 it did the same again.
A general fund line is not itemized on an agenda. Once a program is funded that way, the Court’s minutes stop recording what it buys.
What the record does not say
How many aircraft the office has, what they are, when each was bought and out of what money. Whether there is a written policy governing when they fly, what they record, and how long the footage is kept. Whether flights are logged, and how many there have been. None of that is in the county’s own record, and all of it is a records question.
What we do not know
- How many aircraft the Sheriff's Office operates, and when and how each was acquired.
- What grant funded the 2018 acceptance, and what the grants questionnaire said.
- Whether there is a written drone policy, and whether flights are logged.
- Why the drone project was taken out of the 2014 grant list.
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 Williamson County and how public comment works there.
How to show up in Williamson 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. Williamson County Commissioners Court, minutes, 18 March 2014, item 47 · Meeting record · · accessed
- 2. Williamson County Commissioners Court, minutes, 26 June 2018, item 38 · Meeting record · · accessed
- 3. Williamson County Commissioners Court, minutes, 3 August 2021, item 16 · Meeting record · · accessed
- 4. Williamson County Commissioners Court, minutes, 21 March 2023, item 60 · Meeting record · · accessed
- 5. Williamson County Commissioners Court, minutes, 30 June 2026, item 47 · Meeting record · · accessed
- 6.
- 7. Williamson County Commissioners Court, minutes, 22 November 2022, item 9 · Meeting record · · accessed
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