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License-plate readers · Shawnee County

Shawnee County

Using license-plate readers · 2 agencies documented

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Topeka Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Rekor Systems, Leonardo (ELSAG)
Cameras
26
20 leased stationary Rekor readers plus 6 vehicle-mounted Elsag readers, as described at the Oct. 6, 2026 City Council meeting (WIBW). The total of 26 is our addition of those two figures. In June 2024 a city spokeswoman gave 25: 20 at intersections and 5 on patrol cars (KSNT).
Contract
Vendor not named in source: $92,875 total · Cost of the five-car system as of April 2018, paid from asset forfeiture funds. Vendor not named in the article. (The Topeka Capital-Journal, via GovTech (Tribune Content Agency), April 16, 2018)
  1. April 2018 The Topeka Capital-Journal reported five readers, each on its own patrol car, with plate scans kept 180 days. It counted 721,743 scans since Nov. 15 and 966 alerts. (The Topeka Capital-Journal, via GovTech (Tribune Content Agency), April 16, 2018)
  2. June 2024 A city spokeswoman said the department maintained 25 readers, 20 at intersections and 5 on patrol cars, and that an officer must verify a match before acting on it. (KSNT 27 News, June 3, 2024)
  3. Oct. 6, 2026 Police briefed the City Council on camera use. WIBW reported that the department has no Flock contract for cameras or database use, leases 20 stationary Rekor readers under a contract ending at the end of the year, runs six Elsag readers on vehicles, and recently cut retention to 21 days. The council took no action, and most residents who spoke opposed the cameras. (WIBW, Oct. 6, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Rekor contract amount and exact end date were not reported; WIBW says only that it ends at the end of the year, read here as the end of 2026.
  • Retention was 180 days in 2018 and 21 days as of October 2026.
  • The 2018 article's percentages do not match its counts. Its summary says only one percent of alerts were valid and its body says less than 1 percent of 'those' were valid, giving 270. That is about 28 percent of the 966 alerts and about 0.04 percent of the 721,743 scans. It also counted about 700 rejected, which with 270 does not sum exactly to 966.
  • The Capital-Journal original was not opened; the GovTech licensed reprint is cited.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Shawnee County Sheriff's Office

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Rekor Systems
Cameras
Count not documented
No count found.
  1. May 20, 2024 Per a deputy, the office began installing solar-powered pole devices it called traffic monitoring devices in the Montara neighborhood south of Topeka, with more planned at busy roads around the county. The office said they do not issue citations. (KSNT 27 News, June 3, 2024)
  2. Oct. 6, 2026 WIBW, reporting on the Topeka City Council discussion, said the sheriff's office also leases Rekor cameras. (WIBW, Oct. 6, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • The 2024 KSNT story does not name a vendor for the devices; Rekor comes from the 2026 WIBW story. We have not confirmed they are the same devices.
  • No county commission contract record was found.

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.