Governor orders state agencies to pause funding for Flock plate reader cameras
The Governor's office ordered every Texas state agency to pause funding for Flock automated license plate reader cameras, and confirmed the order on August 28th, 2026. The money behind the state's share of that network is a one dollar auto insurance fee the Legislature passed unanimously in 2023 against catalytic converter theft. The Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority turned part of that fee into cameras reaching from El Paso to the Louisiana border. The order reached the public as a spokesperson's statement to a newsroom, and the Governor's own news index carries no release on it. The authority that wrote the grants lists its next board meeting for October 13th, 2026.
How to take part
The Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority publishes its board meetings and posts an agenda for each one. The next listed date is October 13th, 2026, and the agenda is where a further grant would appear.
Where
Statewide. This decision applies across Texas rather than to a named county.
Timeline
- ordered
The Governor's office confirmed the order
- Today
- hearing
The authority that wrote the grants lists a board meeting
38 days out
How this decision moved
One dated line per check, oldest first. A line that says nothing changed means somebody looked and it had not.
- 2026-08-30
Admitted to the record. The order stands as confirmed by the Governor's office, and the authority that wrote the grants still lists a board meeting for October 13th.
- 2026-09-01
The governor's pause on state-agency funding for Flock plate-reader cameras remains the standing directive.
- 2026-09-02
Checked and unchanged. The decision still stands as decided.
- 2026-09-05
The pause on state funding for plate reader cameras still stands and no agency has been released from it.
The evidence
Every fact above rests on one of these. The words are the source's own.
Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered all state agencies to pause funding for Flock cameras as scrutiny over the AI-powered surveillance devices has mounted.https://www.texastribune.org/2026/08/28/texas-greg-abbott-flock-camera Journalism · texastribune.org
To the extent that cities get any funding for those cameras, most of it comes from the federal government. To the extent any funding comes from Texas agencies, those agencies are clarifying that those funds cannot be used for Flock camerashttps://www.texastribune.org/2026/08/28/texas-greg-abbott-flock-camera Journalism · texastribune.org
In 2023, the Texas Legislature unanimously passed a law raising auto insurance costs for Texans by $1 to combat rampant catalytic converter theft.https://www.texastribune.org/2026/08/28/texas-flock-cameras-auto-insur Journalism · texastribune.org
Three years later, a little-known state agency has devoted at least $30 million of that fee toward supercharging the state's Flock surveillance network, placing cameras along highways and streets from El Paso to the Louisiana borderhttps://www.texastribune.org/2026/08/28/texas-flock-cameras-auto-insur Journalism · texastribune.org
has turned the $1 fee hike into at least 3,200 Flock cameras.https://www.texastribune.org/2026/08/28/texas-flock-cameras-auto-insur Journalism · texastribune.org
Data from the license plate readers, known in law enforcement as LPRs, was searched 62,000 times in 2025, leading to about 1,660 cleared catalytic converter theft cases, a report from the authority said.https://www.texastribune.org/2026/08/28/texas-flock-cameras-auto-insur Journalism · texastribune.org
October 13, 2026 - MVCPA Board Meetinghttps://www.txdmv.gov/about-us/MVCPA Primary source, official · txdmv.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?
The Governor's office ordered every Texas state agency to pause funding for Flock automated license plate reader cameras, and confirmed the order on August 28th, 2026. The money behind the state's share of that network is a one dollar auto insurance fee the Legislature passed unanimously in 2023 against catalytic converter theft. The Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority turned part of that fee into cameras reaching from El Paso to the Louisiana border. The order reached the public as a spokesperson's statement to a newsroom, and the Governor's own news index carries no release on it. The authority that wrote the grants lists its next board meeting for October 13th, 2026.
Who decides it?
Office of the Texas Governor decides. The record names the deciding body for every entry it carries.
Can the public take part?
The Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority publishes its board meetings and posts an agenda for each one. The next listed date is October 13th, 2026, and the agenda is where a further grant would appear.
Where in Texas does it apply?
It applies statewide.
Has it been decided?
It has been decided. The dates on the item page carry when.
What happens next?
A hearing is set for October 13th, in 38 days.
When did it start?
The earliest date on its record is August 28th, 2026.
What kind of decision is it?
It is filed under surveillance and policing.
What sources back it?
Three sources back it. One of them is primary.
Is it on the ERCOT grid?
No. It sits outside the ERCOT interconnection.
When was it last checked?
Every fact on it was last verified against its source on September 5th, 2026.
Cite this
Texas AI Docket, Governor orders state agencies to pause funding for Flock plate reader cameras. Tracked since August 28th, 2026. Last verified September 5th, 2026. https://texasaidocket.com/item/tx-2026-0111/. Reuse permitted under CC BY 4.0 with attribution. The same entry is in the docket JSON as item tx-2026-0111.
Beat
Filed under Surveillance and policing, with every other decision on that beat.