Who signed the check

Funding

General fund, fees, forfeiture, commissary, insurance add-ons. Follow the invoice.

1. Local

   Council writes a check

   Most deployments start as a police or sheriff request on a consent agenda. Proof of the buy is the signed contract, the PO, and the invoice — not a vendor map. Dollar figures from one city do not transfer to the next.

   Ask the clerk for the authorizing resolution and the purchasing file.

   supportedevidence

   ACLU — How to fight Flock and other ALPR mass surveillance · Flock Safety — How to fund an LPR program in 2026 (JAG, COPS, BSIR, asset forfeiture)

2. County

   Sheriff as purchaser

   Counties are often the first bulk buyer. Asset-forfeiture and jail-commissary funds show up in vendor ‘how to pay’ lists because they skip a general-fund fight.

   Ask the commission: general fund, forfeiture, or grant?

   supportedevidence

   Flock Safety — How to fund an LPR program in 2026 (JAG, COPS, BSIR, asset forfeiture)

3. State

   State money, state pause, still not a ban

   Texas used a $1 motor-vehicle-crime fee hike (existing $4 fee raised to $5) to fund thousands of cameras, then the governor paused state money for Flock. Federal grants to locals remained. Cutting a state spigot is not forbidding the class.

   Ask budget chairs to zero ALPR in every state grant line.

   supportedevidence

   AP / Texas Tribune — $1 insurance-fee hike funded thousands of Flock cameras; Abbott pause · NYT — In red states, law-and-order Republicans turn against Flock cameras

4. Federal

   Title 23 and the general fund

   Highway money is the leverage Amendment 221 tried to use. It failed 20–44 in House T&I on 21 May 2026. The argument remains: recipients of federal road money should not run a national plate network except for tolls.

   Ask the House T&I members who voted no to explain.

   supportedevidence

   House T&I markup record — Amendment 221 to H.R. 8870 failed 20–44 · IPVM — bipartisan ALPR amendment killed (20–44) · CRS IN12735 — Federal Legislation and Oversight of Law Enforcement Use of ALPRs