Central Texas cities keep dropping Flock license plate cameras. Austin already went through this

Cities around Austin are rethinking automated license plate readers made by Flock Safety, the company whose cameras photograph passing cars and log their plates. In a roundup published today, Community Impact counted at least half a dozen local governments that have ended, paused or cut funding for the cameras since last December. KVUE reported this week that the City of Taylor is ending its Flock contract over data security concerns.

For Austin residents, the question is less whether Austin uses Flock, which it stopped doing last year, than what rules apply the next time the city wants a camera or data tool. That debate continues at City Hall this week.

What's happening around Austin

According to Community Impact:

• Hays County ended its contract on Oct. 14, turning off six readers.
• Kyle suspended its 38 readers on Oct. 5 until a non-binding referendum in May. Its three Flock contracts total $426,000 a year.
• Bastrop, Liberty Hill and Leander voted in September to end or pause their programs. San Marcos cancelled its contract last December.
• Cedar Park, which owns 22 Flock cameras, opened a 30-day public comment period on Oct. 21.
• Other nearby cities, including Georgetown, Lakeway, Bee Cave and Buda, still use them.

At the state level, Gov. Greg Abbott froze state funding for Flock cameras on Aug. 28, the outlet reported.

What our records add

Austin's pilot, and the vote to extend it. Austin restarted license plate readers in 2023 as a limited trial using Flock cameras. In March 2025 the council voted 8-3 to extend that pilot. Council Members Natasha Harper-Madison, Mike Siegel and Zohaib "Zo" Qadri voted no. Community Impact reported that an audit found the program had scanned tens of millions of plates and likely conflicted with the council's intended guardrails, and city leaders shelved a proposed contract extension after public pushback.

The lesson members drew. At a Feb. 3 work session on a separate parks camera contract, Siegel said the council had adopted strong rules for plate readers, "but the contract with Flock did not follow those guidelines." He said buying cameras "no longer means just cameras" and that the city needed internal checks in purchasing to understand what it is buying.

The TRUST Act. Two days later the council voted 11-0 for a resolution led by Mayor Pro Tem José "Chito" Vela asking for an ordinance on city surveillance technology. On April 23 it adopted that ordinance, 10-0 with Harper-Madison absent. It sets rules for how departments adopt, buy, use and review surveillance tools. Vela said at the time it does not decide whether the city uses any particular technology; it "creates a framework" for analyzing it, including a privacy review made public before the council votes. Our Nov. 1 story has more on that debate, including Council Member Marc Duchen's warning that the rules could reach technology with little to do with surveillance.

This week

The Public Safety Commission had a recommendation on surveillance technology, data sharing and the TRUST Act on its Monday agenda. We have not yet seen the outcome posted. The Technology Commission meets at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4, with a vote on a recommendation on automated license plate readers. Commission recommendations are advice; only the council can adopt policy.

What's next

• Nov. 4: Technology Commission vote on license plate readers.
• Later: Any commission recommendation goes to the council. Under the April ordinance, any new surveillance technology would come to the council with a public privacy assessment first.
• The state: The funding freeze affects cities that relied on state money for cameras. Whether lawmakers take up plate readers when the Legislature meets in January 2027 is an open question.