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License-plate readers · Crawford County

Crawford County

Using license-plate readers · 1 agency documented

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Van Buren Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
16
Talk Business & Politics, citing the Atlas of Surveillance, reported 16 Flock ALPRs as of September 2025. The department has not been shown stating a count.
  1. Sept. 2, 2026 Chief Johnathan Wear said in a statement that after a review of several weeks the department cut retention to seven days, limited direct access to its employees, limited outside search access to Arkansas law enforcement agencies, and limited searches to felony, missing-person, warrant and narcotics cases, certain misdemeanor thefts, and certain domestic battery cases within 12 hours. Other access needs the chief's documented approval. (Talk Business & Politics, Sept. 3, 2026)
  2. Sept. 2, 2026 KATV reported Van Buren had not suspended or removed its cameras. (KATV, Sept. 2, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • KATV lists Van Buren among cities that addressed their Flock contracts without suspending them or removing cameras; no contract terms are reported.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Statewide

  1. March 2013 Two state representatives, Democrat Nate Steel of Nashville and Republican Nate Bell of Mena, filed a bill to limit who may use license plate readers and how long captured data may be kept. The Associated Press reported the filing followed its report that Little Rock police had a reader and no policy on how long data was held. The source gives the weekday (a Monday) and a March 11, 2013 publication date. (KUAR (Associated Press), March 11, 2013)
  2. April 2013 The Arkansas House Judiciary Committee approved the license plate reader bill, per the Associated Press. No tally was given. The source gives the weekday (a Friday) and an April 5, 2013 publication date. (KUAR (Associated Press), April 5, 2013)
  3. July 2013 KARK reported that the ACLU in Arkansas was calling for legislation setting strict rules for police use of license plate readers, and that Little Rock and North Little Rock police each had one cruiser with the technology. (KARK, July 18, 2013)
  4. Aug. 16, 2013 The Automatic License Plate Reader System Act, Ark. Code § 12-12-1801 et seq., took effect, added by Act 1491 of 2013 according to the history note on a code reprint. The Eighth Circuit also describes the law as effective August 2013. (CounselStack (code reprint), date not shown; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, via CourtListener, Oct. 13, 2015)
  5. Aug. 16, 2013 In the code text before the 2025 amendments (2019 and March 2024 versions), § 12-12-1803(a) makes it unlawful for individuals, companies, associations, the state, its agencies and its political subdivisions to use a reader system unless an exception in subsection (b) applies. The exceptions are state, county or municipal law enforcement comparing plates against listed databases (Office of Motor Vehicle, Arkansas Crime Information Center, National Crime Information Center, a database built for an ongoing investigation, FBI); parking enforcement; controlling access to secured areas; and the Arkansas Highway Police checking commercial vehicle compliance, with those readers placed at weigh station entrance ramps. (Justia, 2019; FindLaw, March 28, 2024)
  6. Aug. 16, 2013 § 12-12-1804 caps retention at 150 days, allows law enforcement to keep data during an ongoing investigation until the investigation ends without charges or the criminal case concludes, requires government users to update captured data every 24 hours when updates exist, and bars government users from selling, trading or exchanging data, except that law enforcement data showing evidence of an offense may go to other law enforcement agencies. This is the pre-2025 text. (Justia, 2020; FindLaw, March 28, 2024)
  7. Aug. 16, 2013 § 12-12-1805 requires users to compile statistics every six months in a form the public can review and keep them 18 months: plates scanned, the lists checked, confirmed matches, matches that did not correlate to an alert, and matches leading to arrest and prosecution. Users must adopt and make public their rules on obtaining, retaining and destroying plate data; failing to do so is grounds for a court to exclude evidence obtained under the subchapter. This is the 2018 code text. (Justia, 2018)
  8. Oct. 13, 2015 The Eighth Circuit affirmed dismissal of a First Amendment suit against the Arkansas governor and attorney general brought in May 2014 by Digital Recognition Network and Vigilant Solutions over the Act. The appeals court ruled the companies lacked standing and did not rule on whether the Act violates the First Amendment. The case came from the Eastern District of Arkansas (Chief Judge Brian S. Miller), which had dismissed on Eleventh Amendment immunity. The opinion is Digital Recognition Network, Inc. v. Hutchinson, 803 F.3d 952. (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, via CourtListener, Oct. 13, 2015)
  9. Sept. 2023 The Arkansas Legislative Council authorized $500,000 in federal American Rescue Plan funds for the Arkansas State Police to buy license plate readers and voted to require quarterly reports on arrests made with them. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported no tally. The source gives only the weekday (a Friday); the month comes from the article's URL. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Sept. 16, 2023; Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Sept. 15, 2023)
  10. Sept. 2023 Lt. Dennis Overton told lawmakers the readers would go first at major entrances to the state, including Interstates 30, 40, 49 and 55 and Arkansas 419, plus some Central Arkansas locations, and that data would be kept no longer than 150 days unless part of an ongoing investigation. Col. Mike Hagar said they "will not be used to write speeding tickets," and acknowledged State Police did not yet deploy readers and had no policy. Rep. Jimmy Gazaway raised Fourth Amendment concerns and asked for safeguards. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Sept. 16, 2023; Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Sept. 15, 2023)
  11. Dec. 5, 2023 An Arkansas Attorney General opinion concluded that using automatic license plate reader systems to find and repossess vehicles is not allowed, because companies could use the systems only for parking regulation and access control, per a client article by Clayton C. Swears of the law firm Hudson Cook. This describes the law before Act 668 of 2025. The opinion itself could not be opened. (Hudson Cook, LLP, Feb. 29, 2024)
  12. July 2024 State Police posted proposed license plate reader rules, dated July 15, 2024 in the file name, stating they take effect on or after July 1, 2024. Its publications page lists them under proposed rules. (Arkansas Department of Public Safety, July 15, 2024; Arkansas State Police, date not shown)
  13. Nov. 7, 2024 State Police license plate reader rules are codified at 130.01.24 Ark. Code R. 002, with the Cornell page's notes listing an effective date of Nov. 7, 2024. The rules say State Police owns its reader systems, equipment, databases and data; limit use to legitimate law enforcement purposes; make the Interstate Criminal Patrol Commanders the administrator; require usage reports to the Arkansas Legislative Council each quarter; cap server storage at 150 days; require a log entry when data goes to another law enforcement agency; and require officers to confirm a plate visually and check its status before a stop on an alert. We found no record of a purchase, vendor, contract or camera count. (Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, Nov. 7, 2024; Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association, Sept. 2025)
  14. April 16, 2025 Senate Bill 446, sponsored by Sen. Gilmore with Rep. Gazaway as co-sponsor, was approved as Act 668 of 2025. Its title says it provides for reader use by private landowners, private leaseholders and commercial businesses. It lets those users run readers to promote public safety, deter crime and monitor access to their property, including private roads. No chamber tallies were found. (Legiplex (bill text), April 21, 2025; Legiplex (bill text), March 12, 2025)
  15. April 16, 2025 Under Act 668, private landowners, leaseholders and commercial businesses may keep plate data no more than 60 days, while other eligible users keep the 150-day limit. Those private users may not sell, trade or exchange data for commercial purposes, but may give it to a contracted third-party processor for asset protection analytics if the contract bars other uses and caps retention at 60 days. They must compile statistics every six months and provide them to the Legislative Council's chairs on request, and some of their data can be obtained only by valid subpoena. (Legiplex (bill text), April 21, 2025; National Conference of State Legislatures, date not shown; Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association, Sept. 2025)
  16. April 16, 2025 Act 668 added language letting the Attorney General bring an action to enforce violations of the subchapter under the Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Separately, § 12-12-1807 lets an injured person sue for actual damages or $1,000 in liquidated damages, whichever is greater, plus litigation costs, per a LAPPA summary of state laws. (Legiplex (bill text), March 12, 2025; Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association, Sept. 2025)
  17. 2026 The Arkansas Advocate reported that at least six cities (Centerton, Greers Ferry, Searcy, Mayflower, Farmington, Pea Ridge) had let Flock contracts expire or ended them early since the end of July, and that Cabot had unplugged its cameras during a review. No statewide count of agencies using Flock was found in any source opened. The page shows no publication date; its photo captions are dated Aug. 19, 2026. (Arkansas Advocate, 2026)
  18. 2026 The Arkansas Advocate described possible legislation when lawmakers convene in January, and its subheadline says the cameras could be revisited during the 2027 session. It named no filed bill. Sen. Mark Johnson, a Republican who represents Conway and Mayflower, said he was not saying he wanted to do away with the cameras but would like more answers. House Minority Leader Andrew Collins, D-Little Rock, called it "a local conversation" and said local governments should keep deciding. (Arkansas Advocate, 2026)
  19. 2026 ACLU of Arkansas spokesperson Megan Bailey told the Arkansas Advocate the group was encouraged by local officials ending camera use, saying the "safest data is data that is never collected." (Arkansas Advocate, 2026)
  20. 2026 The Arkansas Department of Public Safety's grant page says Public Safety Equipment Grants "will not be funded for Fiscal Year 2026." Separately, Wynne's police chief told KAIT in May 2025 that the department was awarded a $65,000 grant from the department. KAIT does not name the grant program or say what the grant paid for. (Arkansas Department of Public Safety, date not shown; KAIT, May 20, 2025)
  21. July 2, 2026 KATV reported 429 Flock cameras in Central Arkansas and 1,051 statewide, attributing the totals to a Sherwood Police Department social media post made on a Monday. KATV gives no other source for them. (KATV, July 2, 2026)
  22. Aug. 2026 KATV reported that the Arkansas Association of Chiefs of Police, with roughly 300 members, publicly backed Flock cameras and plate readers. Executive Director Gary Sipes said it was the first time the group had come out publicly in support of anything like this. In a passage on reports of officers misusing readers, he said, "Right now, there has not been any officers in Arkansas that have been charged." KATV's Aug. 27 report says the statement was released on a Thursday. KATV's two reports differ slightly on the group's name (Association of Police Chiefs and Association of Chiefs of Police). (KATV, Aug. 28, 2026; KATV, Aug. 27, 2026)
  23. Aug. 13, 2026 KATV counted six Arkansas cities suspending Flock cameras as of this report: Pea Ridge, Cabot, Mayflower, Centerton, Greers Ferry and Searcy. Axios Northwest Arkansas listed the same six on Aug. 17, 2026. These lists differ from the Arkansas Advocate's, which counts Farmington among six and treats Cabot separately. (KATV, Aug. 13, 2026; Axios, Aug. 17, 2026; Arkansas Advocate, 2026)
  24. Aug. 17, 2026 Axios reported Flock said misuse detection would become mandatory for all customers and default retention would drop from 30 days to one week in some places. (Axios, Aug. 17, 2026)
  25. Sept. 2, 2026 KATV listed Centerton, Pea Ridge, Cabot, Searcy, Farmington and Greers Ferry as having suspended use, Mayflower as having suspended and then removed its cameras, Beebe as letting its contract expire in October unless the council objects, and Van Buren as keeping cameras with retention cut to 7 days, while Marshall had two cameras operational since mid-August. (KATV, Sept. 2, 2026)