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Commissioners approve applying for license‑plate reader grant amid privacy concerns (4–1)
Summary
Kendall County voted 4–1 to apply for a Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority grant (up to $200,000 with a 20% match) to expand license‑plate readers; law enforcement and vendor representatives described transparency controls, while some commissioners and residents raised privacy and data‑access concerns.
Kendall County Commissioners Court approved a motion on April 28 to apply for the Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority catalytic converter grant program to fund expansion of the county's Flock Safety license‑plate‑reader (LPR) network. The grant request is for up to $200,000 with a required local match up to 20% (not to exceed $40,000). The motion passed 4–1.
County staff and law enforcement described the county's existing LPR deployment and said 17 county cameras are installed, with plans to finish courthouse sites and coordinate with TxDOT locations. A Flock Safety regional manager, Ian Leslie, told the court the system is configurable to community preferences and that the company operates under CJIS and SOC 2 standards and uses AWS GovCloud for storage. "We operate at the highest CJIS certifications ... we're SOC 2 certified," Leslie said, adding that the system retains noncritical images for 30 days by default and records audit information about portal access.
Commissioners and members of the public pressed for usage statistics, success metrics, and privacy safeguards. One commissioner said constituents are "very concerned about these cameras" and asked for clearer data on how many crimes the cameras had helped solve. Law‑enforcement representatives pointed to a public transparency portal and said the tool is a force multiplier that supports investigations but does not by itself identify individuals.
The court's vote was 4 in favor and 1 opposed. The dissenting commissioner cited privacy concerns and the need for caution about intrusive surveillance tools, while backers said policy and an accessible transparency portal will help protect civil‑liberties interests.
The court approved applying for the grant; the application will include a proposed match and staff said updates and success stories will be provided to the court as the system is implemented.
