Tennessee Republicans Move to Restrict Automated License Plate Reader Expansion

Legislation targeting Flock Safety's surveillance network tests where state lawmakers draw the line between public safety infrastructure and warrantless data collection.

Two Tennessee Republican lawmakers have introduced measures targeting the rapid expansion of automated license plate reader (ALPR) technology deployed by Flock Safety, a privately held Atlanta-based company whose cameras now operate in hundreds of jurisdictions across the United States, according to reporting by the Daily Caller published July 2026. The specific bills and their current committee status are not identified in the available source material; the full text of each measure would be found in the Tennessee General Assembly's official legislative record at capitol.tn.gov.

Flock Safety's ALPR systems capture and store vehicle location data, license plate numbers, and associated timestamps. The company markets its technology to local governments and law enforcement agencies under subscription contracts. The dollar values of any Tennessee municipal contracts with Flock Safety are not confirmed in the available source material; those figures would appear in procurement records maintained by individual Tennessee municipalities or in vendor disclosure filings with the state comptroller's office.

The lawmakers' stated concern, as characterized by the Daily Caller report, centers on the scope and retention policies governing data collected by the company's network. Critics of ALPR systems have argued in prior legislative proceedings in other states that long-term retention of location data collected without individualized suspicion raises Fourth Amendment questions. No Tennessee court ruling on this specific technology has been identified in the available source material.

Flock Safety has grown significantly since its 2017 founding, with the company reporting in prior press releases that its cameras operate in more than 4,000 communities nationwide. Whether Flock Safety employs registered lobbyists in Tennessee is unknown; that information would appear in lobbying registration records maintained by the Tennessee Ethics Commission at ethics.tn.gov.

What remains unknown: the full text and bill numbers of the Tennessee legislation, the names of the two sponsoring lawmakers, any committee votes or hearing dates, and whether Flock Safety has submitted formal testimony or retained state-level lobbyists in response. The Tennessee General Assembly's official session calendar and committee records would answer those questions.