Benton County Sheriff | License plate readers
Sixteen Flock cameras terminated under the 2026 statute, and nineteen Axon cameras bought two days after the old contract ended — a vendor swap, not a shutdown.
At a glance
- The swap
- Termination letter to Flock Safety 27 March 2026; the 16-camera contract ends 29 August 2026; a five-year Axon contract for 19 ALPR cameras runs from 31 August 2026 (press report of the approval) [1]
- The purchase
- Approved 29 July 2026, $227,107 before sales tax, bought through Washington DES master contract 05720; on the board's consent calendar as "Purchase Agreement for 19 ALPR Cameras from Axon Enterprises, Inc" (the county's own agenda) [1] [2]
- Why Axon
- Reported rationale: integration with the office's existing Axon body cameras, in-car systems, and the FUSUS mapping system [1]
- The Flock era
- A "Flock subscription" appears in the Sheriff's 2025/2026 budget requests (October 2024 minutes); a commissioner and the interim sheriff discussed "Flock Camera systems" on 10 February 2026, weeks before the termination letter [3] [4]
- State law
- RCW 10.130 (2026) requires registration with the Attorney General before operating and a published policy; the new system's registration is an open item [5]
How it happened
- Context
Flock enters the budget
The Sheriff's Office lists a Flock subscription among its 2025/2026 new budget requests at the board's budget workshop. [3]
- Debate
The pre-termination discussion
Commissioner Alvarez and Interim Sheriff Clark discuss Flock camera systems in open session. [4]
- Decision
The termination letter
The county sends Flock Safety notice; the 16-camera contract ends 29 August 2026. [1]
- Procurement
Nineteen Axon cameras
Commissioners approve the five-year, $227,107 purchase through the state's DES master contract; the item sits on the consent calendar between a laptop purchase and a public-defense contract. [1] [2]
A swap, not a shutdown
Pierce and Spokane counties answered the 2026 statute by turning their plate readers off. Snohomish and Yakima kept theirs and published statute-shaped policies. Benton did neither: it ended the Flock contract the statute was written about and bought the same capability from the vendor that already supplies its body cameras, its in-car cameras, and its mapping platform. The gap between the old contract’s last day and the new one’s first is two days.
The purchase itself moved through the consent calendar, between a laptop order and a public-defense contract, bought off a state master purchasing agreement rather than a local bid. The 2024 renewal packet had already described the office’s in-car cameras as carrying AI plate-reading capability, so the capability preceded the purchase order; what the new contract adds is nineteen dedicated cameras and whatever the locations schedule says, which is the first thing the records request asks for.
What we do not know
- The executed Axon agreement's camera-locations schedule, and the RCW 10.130 registration filed before the new system operates.
- The Flock data wind-down after 29 August 2026.
- Whether a use policy for the new system has been published, as the statute requires by December 2027.
What you can do
Show up
Systems like this one are approved by boards, councils and committees that meet in public. We have not yet confirmed where each of them meets in Benton County.
What we have documented in Benton 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. Board of Benton County Commissioners agenda, 28 July 2026, consent item j (CivicClerk record) · Meeting record · · accessed
- 3. Board of Benton County Commissioners minutes, 29 October 2024 budget workshop (CivicClerk record) · Meeting record · · accessed
- 4. Board of Benton County Commissioners minutes, 10 February 2026 (CivicClerk record) · Meeting record · · accessed
- 5. Revised Code of Washington 10.130, Washington State Legislature · Law · accessed
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