Texas Comptroller Don Huffines signed an executive order banning the use of state grant money to buy or contract for Flock cameras, automated license plate readers and other vehicle-identification systems, according to an Oct. 13 news release from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.
The restriction will apply to all future grants administered by the agency, the release said. The Comptroller’s office said it will incorporate the limit into all relevant grant solicitations and agreements going forward.
Under the order, grantees may not obligate or expend grant funds to procure or obtain prohibited surveillance equipment or services, or to enter into, extend or renew a contract to procure or obtain them, according to the release.
The agency defined prohibited equipment or services as any system, software or computer algorithm, used independently or in combination with one or more mobile or fixed automated cameras, that converts license plates or other images into computer-readable data. That includes cameras, sensors, software, subscriptions and data platforms marketed, sold or operated by any entity, the release said. It names Flock Group Inc., doing business as Flock Safety, along with Motorola Solutions Inc., Axon Enterprise Inc. and their successors, affiliates or resellers offering automated license-plate recognition or vehicle-identification systems that meet the definition.
Huffines framed the move as a constitutional matter. “The government has no business tracking where law-abiding Texans drive. Doing it without a warrant is a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution,” Huffines said in the release. “Texans should be able to drive to work, to church, or to the grocery store without a government camera logging it in a database.”
“I am humbled and honored to do my part to restore liberty and stop the erosion of freedoms that are constantly being taken from Texans. Government’s job is to protect your liberty, not take it. No spy cameras,” he said.
The release did not list which grant programs the Comptroller’s office administers will be affected. The agency said the requirement will be written into future solicitations and agreements, which means it applies going forward rather than to existing awards.