SIGNALDATAInsights. For the People.
License-plate readers · McPherson County

McPherson County

Using license-plate readers · 2 agencies documented

← Statewide map
Allen CountyAnderson CountyAtchison CountyBarber CountyBarton CountyBourbon CountyBrown CountyButler CountyChase CountyChautauqua CountyCherokee CountyCheyenne CountyClark CountyClay CountyCloud CountyCoffey CountyComanche CountyCowley CountyCrawford CountyDecatur CountyDickinson CountyDoniphan CountyDouglas CountyEdwards CountyElk CountyEllis CountyEllsworth CountyFinney CountyFord CountyFranklin CountyGeary CountyGove CountyGraham CountyGrant CountyGray CountyGreeley CountyGreenwood CountyHamilton CountyHarper CountyHarvey CountyHaskell CountyHodgeman CountyJackson CountyJefferson CountyJewell CountyJohnson CountyKearny CountyKingman CountyKiowa CountyLabette CountyLane CountyLeavenworth CountyLincoln CountyLinn CountyLogan CountyLyon CountyMarion CountyMarshall CountyMcPherson CountyMeade CountyMiami CountyMitchell CountyMontgomery CountyMorris CountyMorton CountyNemaha CountyNeosho CountyNess CountyNorton CountyOsage CountyOsborne CountyOttawa CountyPawnee CountyPhillips CountyPottawatomie CountyPratt CountyRawlins CountyReno CountyRepublic CountyRice CountyRiley CountyRooks CountyRush CountyRussell CountySaline CountyScott CountySedgwick CountySeward CountyShawnee CountySheridan CountySherman CountySmith CountyStafford CountyStanton CountyStevens CountySumner CountyThomas CountyTrego CountyWabaunsee CountyWallace CountyWashington CountyWichita CountyWilson CountyWoodson CountyWyandotte County

McPherson County Sheriff's Office

Status
Program documented, current use unconfirmed
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
4
Four readers approved for purchase, Feb. 2025.
  1. Feb. 24, 2025 County commissioners approved buying four Flock license tag readers for the sheriff's office; amount and vote not reported. (Ad Astra Radio, Feb. 25, 2025)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Article published Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025 says the action was on Monday. Purchase is more than 12 months old and installation was not confirmed.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

McPherson Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
6
Six cameras approved Nov. 2025; total in service not reported.
Contract
Flock Safety: $18,000 total · from Nov. 2025 · Six Flock cameras. Term not reported. (Ad Astra Radio, Nov. 18, 2025)
  1. Nov. 2025 City commission approved $18,000 for six Flock cameras that record vehicles and license tag data; no tally reported. (Ad Astra Radio, Nov. 18, 2025)
  2. 2026 City of Newton's Flock page, undated but written in or after June 2026, lists McPherson among nearby communities with Flock cameras. (City of Newton, date not shown)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Article dated Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025 says the action was on a Tuesday; exact meeting date not confirmed.
  • City of Newton's Flock page also lists McPherson among communities with Flock cameras.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Statewide

  1. March 25, 2021 SB 305 would have required written reader policies and exempted the data from the Open Records Act; the ACLU of Kansas testified against it. A 2024 legislative memo says it died in committee. (ACLU of Kansas, March 25, 2021; Kansas Legislative Research Department, Feb. 1, 2024)
  2. 2022 SB 434 proposed routing requests for reader records to the owning agency and adding them to records agencies need not disclose. (Kansas Legislative Research Department, 2022)
  3. Feb. 25, 2022 A Kansas Legislative Research memo said state law at that time had no provision aimed specifically at plate-reader data or policies. (Kansas Legislative Research Department, Feb. 25, 2022)
  4. Feb. 1, 2024 Legislative researchers reported K.S.A. 45-221(a)(55) lets public agencies withhold records containing captured plate data or concerning a reader's location. The 2021 text of 45-221 does not contain this language, so it was added after 2021. (Kansas Legislative Research Department, Feb. 1, 2024; Justia, 2021)
  5. July 2026 The Kansas Justice Institute sued Wichita in Sedgwick County District Court on behalf of a resident, alleging the city's Flock program violates the Kansas Constitution. These are allegations; no ruling has been reported. (Kansas Reflector, July 2026)
  6. Sept. 30, 2026 KCUR reported the Institute for Justice database lists five Kansas reader-abuse cases, and that Sen. Josh Hawley introduced a federal bill limiting sale and retention of reader data. (KCUR, Sept. 30, 2026)
  7. Oct. 1, 2026 The Johnson County Post reported that without comprehensive state or federal law, departments set their own reader rules. (Johnson County Post, Oct. 1, 2026)

State agencies

Kansas Highway Patrol

Status
Program documented, current use unconfirmed
Vendors
Vendor not named in source
Cameras
Count not documented
No count found.
  1. Feb. 25, 2022 A legislative research memo, relaying a patrol officer's 2021 testimony, said readings go to secure servers at the Houston HIDTA office, are held six months and then purged, and that logging in requires vetting and a valid law-enforcement purpose. (Kansas Legislative Research Department, Feb. 25, 2022)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Evidence older than 12 months.

From agency records.