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Cooke County sheriff asks commissioners to approve application for catalytic-converter grant
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Summary
The Cooke County Sheriff’s Office asked commissioners to authorize the county judge to sign an application to the Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority for the FY27SB224 catalytic-converter grant. Commissioners approved the request 4–0 after discussing storage costs and privacy safeguards.
The Cooke County Sheriff’s Office asked the Cooke County Commissioners Court to allow the county judge to sign and submit a Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority FY27SB224 catalytic-converter grant application, and the court unanimously approved the request.
Sheriff (speaker 1) told commissioners the application would primarily continue the department’s existing Flock license-plate camera program and add data-storage capacity for evidence and department use. "This is our third grant," the Sheriff said, and the new funding would increase the office’s external data-storage capability so the county would not have to buy the storage with general funds.
The Sheriff acknowledged the office may ask for up to $10,000 from the county general fund at the upcoming May budget meeting to cover some storage costs; if that is not approved, he said the department would use forfeiture funds. "I may ask the county to fund 10,000, but if not, then we'll pay it out of forfeiture," he said.
Commissioners asked for clarifications about cost and program history. Commissioner (S3) asked whether the grant required a local match; the Sheriff responded that the grant is not a matching grant this cycle but noted that in prior years the department has covered a roughly 20% share using forfeiture funds. The Sheriff estimated the county has participated in the program for about three years, accounting for fiscal-year timing.
Privacy and data-access concerns surfaced during discussion. The Sheriff said the cameras primarily take rear-of-vehicle images and license-plate photographs and do not reveal vehicle occupants. "They're not capable of telling who's in the vehicle," he said, and added that the system is intended to alert only on plates entered into NCIC. Commissioner (S4) said the vendor, Flock, "will absolutely not be involved in any facial recognition," while Commissioner (S3) raised a separate concern that even if the vendor disclaims facial-recognition capabilities, the county cannot fully control who might access vendor-held data downstream.
The Sheriff described an operational example where plate data helped locate a fugitive who was on the move, saying the camera hit alerted dispatch and led to custody. He also explained the system’s retention policy: camera-captured data is retained about 30 days before it is rolled off, while hits that generate alerts are handled separately.
A motion to ratify the grant application and authorize the county judge to sign was made, seconded, and approved 4–0. The court then moved to adjourn and recessed at 9:18 a.m.
The commissioners’ approval authorizes submission of the FY27SB224 catalytic-converter grant application; final award, any county funding commitments, and detailed vendor data-access agreements remain subject to future budget decisions and any grant award terms.
