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License-plate readers · Riley County

Riley County

Using license-plate readers · 1 agency documented

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Riley County Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
11
RCPD says 11 Flock cameras in and around the edges of Manhattan (Manhattan Mercury, July 2026). Law Board minutes of May 18, 2026 also cite 11 license plate readers. Vehicle-mounted or other ALPR systems are not counted; the Mercury says the sergeant administers 'most ALPR systems', suggesting more than one.
Contract
Vendor not named in source: $33,000 year · Approximate, for 11 cameras at about $3,000 each. Vendor not named in these 2024 stories. Disagrees with the figure below. (KMAN, March 19, 2024; KMAN, April 16, 2024)
Contract
Vendor not named in source: $43,400 year · KMAN's January 2024 figure for plate-reading cameras approved by the Law Board. No count given. Disagrees with the $33,000 figure; the difference is unexplained. (KMAN, Jan. 25, 2024)
  1. Dec. 2023 The Riley County Law Board approved a measure supporting the plate-reading cameras. (KMAN, Jan. 25, 2024; KMAN, March 19, 2024)
  2. April 15, 2024 The Law Board approved a resolution conditionally authorizing its chair to sign the reader agreement while its own liability coverage was still in doubt. Officials learned after the meeting that the board would be covered, and the chair signed the next day. Final City Commission approval was scheduled for May 7. (KMAN, April 16, 2024)
  3. Nov. 17, 2025 The Law Board voted 6-0 to apply for a federal grant of roughly $1 million that the director said would fund technology including automated license plate readers. This was approval to apply only. (Riley County, Kansas, Dec. 15, 2025)
  4. May 18, 2026 Minutes record a major saying the department's camera network is made up of 11 plate readers and a few other cameras. No vote was taken. (Riley County, Kansas, June 15, 2026)
  5. June 2026 RCPD officials told the Manhattan City Commission that data is stored about 30 days and that the readers have no facial recognition. The Mercury reported that department policy requires an audit of all ALPR systems twice a year and that RCPD credits the readers with more than 150 positive outcomes. A commissioner who sits on the Law Board said removal was unlikely and that he would ask to see the agreements between RCPD and Flock. (The Manhattan Mercury, July 1, 2026)
  6. June 15, 2026 A technology slide in the Law Board packet named wider plate-reader and camera coverage as a next step. The agenda listed the item as discussion only. (Riley County, Kansas, June 15, 2026)
  7. Aug. 26, 2026 A group called DeFlock Riley County held its first meeting in Manhattan, seeking removal of cameras. Director Brian Peete said the department has had over 150 success stories since implementing Flock and cannot arbitrarily track vehicles. (WIBW, Aug. 26, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Cost figures disagree ($33,000 vs. $43,400 per year); both recorded. The 2024 stories do not name Flock; the link to Flock comes from 2026 coverage.
  • The Law Board member quoted in the Mercury said that, as far as he knew, the board did not sign a Flock contract. KMAN reported in April 2024 that the board authorized its chair to sign a reader agreement with an unnamed vendor. Not reconciled; agreement needed.
  • The June 2026 date comes from the Mercury's reference to a Tuesday meeting before its July 1 publication; exact date not given.
  • May 7, 2024 City Commission outcome was not confirmed.
  • The December 2023 date is inferred: KMAN wrote in January and March 2024 of approval in December, without a year.
  • Some source titles (KMAN, Journal-World 2011 and 2016) were reconstructed from URLs and should be checked before publication.
  • The December 2025 Law Board packet's expenditure reports contain no entry labeled Flock. This is not evidence about how the service is paid for.
  • A former commissioner's public-comment claims about Flock's terms and data use are not reproduced here because the Mercury did not verify them.

From agency records.

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.