The License-Plate Reader File · GeorgiaIn reporting · updated Oct. 21, 2026

Who is reading your plate?
County by county.

Georgia law lets police collect license-plate reader data for law enforcement purposes, keep it for up to 30 months and share it with other agencies; after officers in several departments were charged with misusing the data in 2026, state leaders began weighing tighter rules.

License-plate readers in other states →

A county’s color reflects any documented agency in it: the sheriff’s office or a city police department. “Not yet checked” is not the same as “none”.

Using license-plate readers
In use; some cameras may have been switched off or removed.
Removing or limiting cameras
Removing cameras beyond state roads, or limiting use, while some remain.
Use suspended
Cameras switched off or use paused; no contract termination reported.
Program documented, current use unconfirmed
Records or reports show the agency bought or used plate readers, but no source found confirms whether they are still in use.
Ended or removed
Contract terminated, program discontinued, or all cameras removed.

Statewide

  1. May 8, 2018 Gov. Nathan Deal signed House Bill 79 (Act 452), which passed the House 169-2 and the Senate 47-0 and took effect July 1, 2018. It added a Title 35 code section limiting how long police may keep plate-reader data, allowing agencies to share it, setting penalties for misuse and requiring policies. (LegiScan, May 8, 2018)
  2. July 1, 2018 Under O.C.G.A. 35-1-22, police may collect plate-reader data but may access it only for a law enforcement purpose, defined as investigating an offense or activity an agency has started. Data must be destroyed within 30 months unless it is tied to a toll violation or needed for a law enforcement purpose. Agencies may share data with each other and may hire a company to hold it. Each agency must keep a use and training policy. Misuse is a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature, and the data is exempt from the Open Records Act. (FindLaw, March 28, 2024; National Conference of State Legislatures, Sept. 28, 2026; Georgia General Assembly, 2018)
  3. July 1, 2018 The Department of Public Safety's plate-reader policy 6.09, in the version revised July 1, 2018, limits use to law enforcement purposes, names the Criminal Interdiction Unit commander as LPR administrator, requires officers to verify a hit before a traffic stop, logs data shared with other agencies, and purges data after 30 months unless it involves a toll violation or an investigation. It also covers readers owned by the State Road and Tollway Authority for HOT-lane enforcement. (Georgia Department of Public Safety, July 1, 2018)
  4. Oct. 16, 2024 GDOT guidance took effect for police plate readers on state routes and interstates. Agencies apply for a single permit per jurisdiction, renewed every three years. The guidance sets spacing limits (generally one reader per direction per 2 miles of state route in a city, one per direction between interstate interchanges, plus extras at city or county lines). The requesting agency signs a concurrence letter promising to make the data available to the wider law enforcement community at no cost and sends it through the Department of Public Safety. GDOT will revoke the permit if the data stops being available. (Georgia Department of Transportation, Oct. 16, 2024; Georgia Department of Transportation, Oct. 3, 2024; Georgia Department of Transportation, date not shown)
  5. Feb. 24, 2026 Attorney General Chris Carr led 19 states in an amicus brief asking the 11th Circuit to reject a Fourth Amendment challenge to police plate readers in Schemel v. City of Marco Island, Florida. The brief cites Georgia examples from the Franklin County Sheriff's Office, Statesboro, DeKalb County and Lawrenceville police. (Georgia Attorney General's Office, Feb. 24, 2026; WSB-TV, Feb. 25, 2026)
  6. July 6, 2026 The GBI arrested five former Albany police officers on charges of misusing license plate data and violating their oath of office, after Albany police asked for an investigation following an internal Flock audit. More GBI arrests over plate-reader searches followed that summer, including a Conyers police dispatch supervisor on July 22 and four former Savannah police employees (announced Aug. 21). In each case the local department asked for the investigation after its own audit. (Georgia Bureau of Investigation, July 6, 2026; Georgia Bureau of Investigation, July 23, 2026; Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Aug. 21, 2026; The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, July 9, 2026)
  7. Aug. 25, 2026 State Sen. John Albers (R-Roswell), chair of the Senate Public Safety Committee, said a task force formed by the Georgia Sheriffs' Association and the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police was reviewing misuse cases and agency policies with Flock Safety and would report before the 2027 session. He did not commit to legislation. The review covers only cameras run by law enforcement. (Atlanta News First (via WTOC), Aug. 25, 2026)

State agencies

Georgia State Patrol (Department of Public Safety)

Status
Program documented, current use unconfirmed
Vendors
Vendor not named in source
Cameras
Count not documented
65 mobile readers in 2018 (WSB-TV); no current count found.
  1. 2018 WSB-TV reported that the State Patrol had 65 mobile plate readers statewide and scanned 42,416,383 plates in 2017, plus 274,617 on May 1-2, 2018. (WSB-TV / The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 2018)
  2. July 1, 2018 DPS policy 6.09 set the rules for the agency's plate readers: law enforcement use only, a 30-month purge, logged sharing with other agencies under a written agreement, and rules for SRTA toll-lane readers. (Georgia Department of Public Safety, July 1, 2018)
  3. Oct. 16, 2024 Under GDOT's plate-reader guidance, local requests to put readers on state rights of way go through DPS first. The DPS LPR coordinator is responsible for making sure data from permitted readers is available to the wider law enforcement community. (Georgia Department of Transportation, Oct. 16, 2024)
Conflicts and open questions
  • No current State Patrol plate-reader contract, vendor or count was found. Status is unconfirmed because the only documented use of its own readers dates to 2018. Open Records request needed for DPS LPR inventory, contracts and HIDTA agreement.

From agency records.

State Road and Tollway Authority

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Vendor not named in source
Cameras
Count not documented
No count found.
  1. July 1, 2018 DPS policy says SRTA owns plate readers used for HOT-lane enforcement under an MoU with DPS. Troopers using SRTA readers must use SRTA software, and SRTA stores that data. (Georgia Department of Public Safety, July 1, 2018)
  2. June 8, 2026 Clayton County police's plate-reader SOP says SRTA keeps its own toll-related plate-reader data through Peach Pass. (Clayton County Police Department (PowerDMS), June 8, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Toll-enforcement readers. The state law exempts data tied to a toll violation from the 30-month destruction rule.

From agency records.

Every county

All 159 counties
ApplingNot yet checked———
AtkinsonNot yet checked———
BaconNot yet checked———
BakerNot yet checked———
BaldwinUsing license-plate readers1Flock Safety—
BanksNot yet checked———
BarrowUsing license-plate readers1Flock Safety—
BartowNot yet checked———
Ben HillNot yet checked———
BerrienNot yet checked———
BibbUsing license-plate readers1Flock Safety—
BleckleyNot yet checked———
BrantleyNot yet checked———
BrooksNot yet checked———
BryanUsing license-plate readers1Flock Safety—
BullochProgram documented, current use unconfirmed1Flock Safety30
BurkeNot yet checked———
ButtsNot yet checked———
CalhounNot yet checked———
CamdenNot yet checked———
CandlerNot yet checked———
CarrollProgram documented, current use unconfirmed1Flock Safety—
CatoosaUsing license-plate readers1—36
CharltonNot yet checked———
ChathamUsing license-plate readers2Flock Safety74
ChattahoocheeNot yet checked———
ChattoogaNot yet checked———
CherokeeUsing license-plate readers3Flock Safety—
ClarkeUsing license-plate readers1Flock Safety—
ClayNot yet checked———
ClaytonUsing license-plate readers2Flock Safety—
ClinchNot yet checked———
CobbUsing license-plate readers2Flock Safety—
CoffeeNot yet checked———
ColquittProgram documented, current use unconfirmed1Flock Safety—
ColumbiaUsing license-plate readers1Flock Safety—
CookNot yet checked———
CowetaUsing license-plate readers2Flock Safety5
CrawfordNot yet checked———
CrispNot yet checked———
DadeNot yet checked———
DawsonNot yet checked———
DeKalbUsing license-plate readers4Flock Safety, Motorola Solutions24
DecaturNot yet checked———
DodgeNot yet checked———
DoolyNot yet checked———
DoughertyUsing license-plate readers2Flock Safety—
DouglasNot yet checked———
EarlyNot yet checked———
EcholsNot yet checked———
EffinghamUsing license-plate readers1Flock Safety—
ElbertNot yet checked———
EmanuelNot yet checked———
EvansNot yet checked———
FanninNot yet checked———
FayetteUsing license-plate readers3Flock Safety—
FloydUsing license-plate readers1Flock Safety—
ForsythNot yet checked———
FranklinNot yet checked———
FultonUsing license-plate readers3Flock Safety—
GilmerNot yet checked———
GlascockNot yet checked———
GlynnUsing license-plate readers2Axon, Flock Safety80
GordonNot yet checked———
GradyNot yet checked———
GreeneNot yet checked———
GwinnettUsing license-plate readers4Flock Safety211
HabershamNot yet checked———
HallUsing license-plate readers1Flock Safety—
HancockNot yet checked———
HaralsonNot yet checked———
HarrisNot yet checked———
HartNot yet checked———
HeardNot yet checked———
HenryUsing license-plate readers1Flock Safety—
HoustonUsing license-plate readers2Flock Safety20
IrwinNot yet checked———
JacksonNot yet checked———
JasperNot yet checked———
Jeff DavisNot yet checked———
JeffersonNot yet checked———
JenkinsNot yet checked———
JohnsonNot yet checked———
JonesNot yet checked———
LamarNot yet checked———
LanierNot yet checked———
LaurensNot yet checked———
LeeNot yet checked———
LibertyNot yet checked———
LincolnNot yet checked———
LongNot yet checked———
LowndesUsing license-plate readers2Flock Safety—
LumpkinUsing license-plate readers1Flock Safety—
MaconNot yet checked———
MadisonNot yet checked———
MarionNot yet checked———
McDuffieNot yet checked———
McIntoshNot yet checked———
MeriwetherNot yet checked———
MillerNot yet checked———
MitchellNot yet checked———
MonroeNot yet checked———
MontgomeryNot yet checked———
MorganNot yet checked———
MurrayNot yet checked———
MuscogeeUsing license-plate readers1Flock Safety—
NewtonUsing license-plate readers1Flock Safety—
OconeeNot yet checked———
OglethorpeNot yet checked———
PauldingUsing license-plate readers1Flock Safety—
PeachNot yet checked———
PickensNot yet checked———
PierceNot yet checked———
PikeNot yet checked———
PolkNot yet checked———
PulaskiNot yet checked———
PutnamNot yet checked———
QuitmanNot yet checked———
RabunNot yet checked———
RandolphNot yet checked———
RichmondUsing license-plate readers1Flock Safety—
RockdaleUsing license-plate readers1Flock Safety—
SchleyNot yet checked———
ScrevenNot yet checked———
SeminoleNot yet checked———
SpaldingNot yet checked———
StephensNot yet checked———
StewartNot yet checked———
SumterNot yet checked———
TalbotNot yet checked———
TaliaferroNot yet checked———
TattnallNot yet checked———
TaylorNot yet checked———
TelfairNot yet checked———
TerrellNot yet checked———
ThomasUsing license-plate readers1Flock Safety41
TiftNot yet checked———
ToombsNot yet checked———
TownsNot yet checked———
TreutlenNot yet checked———
TroupUsing license-plate readers1Flock Safety—
TurnerNot yet checked———
TwiggsNot yet checked———
UnionNot yet checked———
UpsonNot yet checked———
WalkerUsing license-plate readers1Flock Safety4
WaltonNot yet checked———
WareNot yet checked———
WarrenNot yet checked———
WashingtonNot yet checked———
WayneNot yet checked———
WebsterNot yet checked———
WheelerNot yet checked———
WhiteNot yet checked———
WhitfieldNot yet checked———
WilcoxNot yet checked———
WilkesNot yet checked———
WilkinsonNot yet checked———
WorthNot yet checked———

How this map is built

We start with each county’s sheriff’s office and its largest city police departments, then work outward. Each agency’s entry says whether it comes from agency records or from news reports, and links every source. Companies are tracked separately, so the map can show one company’s customers or all license-plate readers together.

Have a contract, invoice or records response for an agency here? Send it to tips@signaldata.org.

Sources