A Harris County report released ahead of Thursday’s Commissioners Court meeting found that the county does not have a complete, verified inventory of the automated license plate readers operating within it, and does not have a comprehensive list of the outside agencies able to reach the data those cameras collect. KPRC 2 reports that Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo is calling for stronger and more standardized oversight in response, and wants commissioners to act on immediate steps rather than wait months for further recommendations.
The report counts 154 county funded Flock camera systems, 125 of them tied to commissioners’ precincts and 29 reported by county law enforcement agencies. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office separately reports 17 additional Flock camera networks covering nearly 500 cameras. On the question of written rules, the report found that only four county agencies had supplied policies: the Fire Marshal’s Office and Constable Precincts 2, 7 and 8. The Sheriff’s Office told the county its policy is being revised. Among the policies that do exist, the report found differences in how long data is kept, who may see it and when it may be shared. Under the county’s current agreement, collected data is generally deleted after 30 days.
The report recommends that commissioners consider forming a workgroup to write stronger policies, review the Flock contract on data access, sharing and retention, and produce a standard policy for county law enforcement, reporting back with recommendations by February 2027. The camera count is attributed to the Harris County Office of County Administration. Commissioners are scheduled to discuss the report at Thursday’s meeting. No vote has been taken, and KPRC 2 reports none scheduled.
This follows Judge Hidalgo’s request for a full accounting of the county’s license plate cameras, which set this week’s meeting as the date for that accounting. Harris County Precinct 4, which covers Atascocita, Huffman and much of the unincorporated Lake Houston area, took 61 Flock cameras offline earlier this month. Thursday’s agenda also carries 44 flood control items.
