Texas AI Docket

Austin City Council adopted Ordinance 20260423-029 creating City Code Chapter 2-19 on surveillance technology

Surveillance and policingAustin City CouncilTravisPublic meeting

Austin City Council approved Ordinance No. 20260423-029 on April 23rd, 2026. It adds a new Chapter 2-19 to Title 2 of the city code, covering how any city department adopts, acquires, deploys, uses and reviews surveillance technology. The ordinance followed Resolution No. 20260205-061 of February 5th, 2026, which directed the City Manager to return to Council with a rule on the city's own use of that technology. The council file records no fiscal impact. Reporting has described the ordinance as banning facial recognition and restricting AI and machine learning tools. That language has not been confirmed against the ordinance text.

How to take part

Austin posts the full agenda and every backup document for each council meeting at austintexas.gov/council. That includes the two draft ordinances, the redline and the individual council members' motion sheets. Council meetings are public. Under the new chapter a department's proposed surveillance technology comes back to council as its own agenda item.

Where to do it

Where

1 county. In Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos.

Timeline

  1. ordered

    Resolution No. 20260205-061 directed the City Manager to return with a surveillance technology ordinance

  2. ordered

    Ordinance No. 20260423-029 adopted, adding City Code Chapter 2-19

  3. Today

How this decision moved

One dated line per check, oldest first. A line that says nothing changed means somebody looked and it had not.

  1. 2026-08-19

    Checked and unchanged. The ordinance still adds Chapter 2-19 to Title 2 of the city code. It still governs the adoption and acquisition and deployment and use and review of surveillance technology by any city department.

  2. 2026-08-22

    Checked and unchanged. Ordinance 20260423-029 still adds Chapter 2-19 to Title 2 of the city code. It still governs how any city department adopts and acquires and deploys and uses and reviews surveillance technology.

  3. 2026-08-25

    Checked and unchanged. The decision still stands as decided.

  4. 2026-08-28

    Checked and unchanged. Chapter 2-19 is still in the Austin city code and no department has been exempted from it. The ordinance still governs how the city adopts and reviews surveillance technology.

  5. 2026-09-01

    Austin's surveillance-technology chapter remains in the city code and continues to govern departmental adoption and review.

  6. 2026-09-02

    Checked and unchanged. The decision still stands as decided.

  7. 2026-09-05

    Austin's surveillance technology chapter is still in the City Code as adopted. The reporting duties it created are unchanged.

  8. 2026-09-08

    Austin's surveillance technology chapter is still in the city code as adopted. The ordinance number and the chapter it created are unchanged.

  9. 2026-09-09

    Austin's surveillance technology ordinance still stands as Chapter 2-19 of the city code. The reporting duties it created have not been narrowed.

  10. 2026-09-12

    Checked and unchanged. The decision still stands as decided.

  11. 2026-09-13

    Checked and unchanged. The decision still stands as decided.

  12. 2026-09-16

    Chapter 2-19 is still on the books as adopted, and the surveillance technology it governs is still subject to the review the ordinance created. The text has not been amended.

  13. 2026-09-19

    The surveillance technology chapter is still city code, and nothing has been repealed out of it.

  14. 2026-09-23

    Austin's surveillance chapter is still in the city code as adopted.

  15. 2026-09-26

    Austin's surveillance technology chapter is still in the city code in the form the council adopted.

  16. 2026-09-29

    Chapter 2-19 of the Austin City Code still governs how the city buys and uses surveillance technology.

The evidence

Every fact above rests on one of these. The words are the source's own.

Approve an ordinance amending City Code Title 2 (Administration) to add a new Chapter 2-19 (Surveillance Technology) relating to the adoption, acquisition, deployment, use, and review of surveillance technology by any City department.
April 23, 2026 Austin City Council Regular Meeting, AustinTexas.gov Primary source, official · austintexas.gov
Funding: This item has no fiscal impact.
April 23, 2026 Austin City Council Regular Meeting, AustinTexas.gov Primary source, official · austintexas.gov
Approve a resolution directing the City Manager to return to Council with an ordinance regulating the City's use of surveillance technology.
February 5, 2026 Austin City Council Regular Meeting, AustinTexas.gov Primary source, official · austintexas.gov

Questions about this decision

Answered from the record itself. Every answer is assembled from stored fields, so an answer the record has no basis for is left out rather than guessed.

What is this decision?

Austin City Council approved Ordinance No. 20260423-029 on April 23rd, 2026. It adds a new Chapter 2-19 to Title 2 of the city code, covering how any city department adopts, acquires, deploys, uses and reviews surveillance technology. The ordinance followed Resolution No. 20260205-061 of February 5th, 2026, which directed the City Manager to return to Council with a rule on the city's own use of that technology. The council file records no fiscal impact. Reporting has described the ordinance as banning facial recognition and restricting AI and machine learning tools. That language has not been confirmed against the ordinance text.

Who decides it?

Austin City Council decides. The record names the deciding body for every entry it carries.

Can the public take part?

Austin posts the full agenda and every backup document for each council meeting at austintexas.gov/council. That includes the two draft ordinances, the redline and the individual council members' motion sheets. Council meetings are public. Under the new chapter a department's proposed surveillance technology comes back to council as its own agenda item.

Where in Texas does it apply?

It covers Travis County in the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX area.

Has it been decided?

It has been decided. The dates on the item page carry when.

What happens next?

No future date is on the record. The last dated step on it was ordered on April 23rd.

When did it start?

The earliest date on its record is February 5th, 2026.

What kind of decision is it?

It is filed under surveillance and policing.

What sources back it?

Two sources back it. Two of them are primary.

Is it on the ERCOT grid?

Yes. It sits inside the ERCOT interconnection.

When was it last checked?

Every fact on it was last verified against its source on September 29th, 2026.

Cite this

Texas AI Docket, Austin City Council adopted Ordinance 20260423-029 creating City Code Chapter 2-19 on surveillance technology. Tracked since February 5th, 2026. Last verified September 29th, 2026. https://texasaidocket.com/item/tx-2026-0030/. Reuse permitted under CC BY 4.0 with attribution. The same entry is in the docket JSON as item tx-2026-0030.

Beat

Filed under Surveillance and policing, with every other decision on that beat.

Last checked 2026-09-29