Texas county bans controversial surveillance cameras. What’s next? – MySA

Texas county bans controversial surveillance cameras. What’s next?  MySA

Kendall County leaders unanimously voted against moving forward with a controversial Flock Safety contract in August, pulling the plug on dozens of automated license plate reading (ALPR) cameras in the Hill Country less than one month ago. Now, questions remain about when the cameras will officially go dark and whether the city of Boerne, the Kendall County seat, will follow suit in response to widespread public backlash over the devices. According to Kendall County Judge Shane Stolarczyk, the county intends to remove its roughly 50 existing Flock Cameras later this year and does not have contracts with any other automated license plate reading camera companies at this time. "There's been no discussion about any alternative ALPR technology moving forward," Stolarczyk said.

Stolarczyk shared at the time of the vote to cut ties with Flock that the company specifically lost public trust, largely over Fourth Amendment and privacy concerns. Whether those concerns apply to other license plate reading technology companies remains unanswered. In the meantime, the county's contract with Flock Safety will effectively end on October 2, 2026. "At that time, Flock is going to coordinate, create a schedule to remove cameras from the county, and that process could take up to 60 days," the outgoing county judge shared. What comes next for Boerne's Flock cameras? Meanwhile, the city of Boerne