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

DeSoto County

Using license-plate readers · 3 agencies documented

← Statewide map
Adams CountyAlcorn CountyAmite CountyAttala CountyBenton CountyBolivar CountyCalhoun CountyCarroll CountyChickasaw CountyChoctaw CountyClaiborne CountyClarke CountyClay CountyCoahoma CountyCopiah CountyCovington CountyDeSoto CountyForrest CountyFranklin CountyGeorge CountyGreene CountyGrenada CountyHancock CountyHarrison CountyHinds CountyHolmes CountyHumphreys CountyIssaquena CountyItawamba CountyJackson CountyJasper CountyJefferson CountyJefferson Davis CountyJones CountyKemper CountyLafayette CountyLamar CountyLauderdale CountyLawrence CountyLeake CountyLee CountyLeflore CountyLincoln CountyLowndes CountyMadison CountyMarion CountyMarshall CountyMonroe CountyMontgomery CountyNeshoba CountyNewton CountyNoxubee CountyOktibbeha CountyPanola CountyPearl River CountyPerry CountyPike CountyPontotoc CountyPrentiss CountyQuitman CountyRankin CountyScott CountySharkey CountySimpson CountySmith CountyStone CountySunflower CountyTallahatchie CountyTate CountyTippah CountyTishomingo CountyTunica CountyUnion CountyWalthall CountyWarren CountyWashington CountyWayne CountyWebster CountyWilkinson CountyWinston CountyYalobusha CountyYazoo County

Horn Lake Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
10
Ten Flock cameras in use per Mayor Jimmy Stokes, DeSoto Times-Tribune, Aug. 27, 2026.
  1. Aug. 2026 Mayor Jimmy Stokes said Horn Lake has ten Flock cameras, that only seasoned officers and 911 operators can use the system, that the police chief monitors it, and that its search requirements would flag anyone searching tags for personal reasons. (DeSoto Times-Tribune, Aug. 27, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Stokes said use is limited to stolen vehicles, vehicles tied to felonies and Amber alerts.
  • Flock transparency portal (horn-lake-ms-pd slug) could not be opened; permission request timed out.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Olive Branch Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Utility Inc.
Cameras
24
24 ALPR cameras around the city perimeter per Mayor Ken Adams in the DeSoto Times-Tribune, Aug. 27, 2026; 24 fixed cameras at city entrances in the 2022 plan.
Contract
Utility Inc.: $297,000 term · from Aug. 2022 · About $297,000 over five years (roughly $60,000 a year) with Utility Inc. for 24 fixed plate-reader cameras; approved 5-1 by the Board of Aldermen at a Tuesday meeting reported Aug. 5, 2022. (DeSoto County News, Aug. 5, 2022; The Daily Memphian, Aug. 8, 2022)
  1. Aug. 2022 Olive Branch aldermen voted 5-1 to hire Utility Inc. to put up and service 24 plate-reader cameras at the city's entry points. (DeSoto County News, Aug. 5, 2022; The Daily Memphian, Aug. 8, 2022)
  2. Aug. 2026 Mayor Ken Adams said the city runs 24 ALPR cameras, with two administrators (a captain and a lieutenant), view-only access for other authorized staff, and audited system activity; he cited a March 2026 case in which plate data helped locate a missing child. (DeSoto Times-Tribune, Aug. 27, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • 2022 vote date from a weekday ('Tuesday night') in the Aug. 5, 2022 article; likely Aug. 2, 2022 but not stated.
  • Vendor Utility Inc. is from 2022 coverage; the 2026 article does not name a current vendor. Utility's blog post on the contract redirected to another company's site and was not opened.
  • Adams said the city does not plan to use the system for insurance or traffic enforcement.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Southaven Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Vendor not named in source
  1. Aug. 2026 Mayor Darren Musselwhite told the DeSoto Times-Tribune Southaven has run plate-reader cameras for seven years and, because storage is limited, erases footage not needed for police work. (DeSoto Times-Tribune, Aug. 27, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • The Aug. 27, 2026 article does not name Southaven's vendor or camera count.
  • Flock transparency portal (transparency.flocksafety.com/southaven-ms-pd) could not be opened; permission request timed out.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Statewide

  1. 2009 Mississippi's 2009 traffic-camera law, signed by Gov. Haley Barbour, bars counties and cities from installing cameras that automatically detect traffic violations; it passed the Senate 42-9 and the House 111-9. It does not expressly say whether cameras held by officers are covered. A 2025 bill, SB 2201, would have amended that law at Miss. Code Ann. § 17-25-19. (Magnolia Tribune (republished by Clarke County Tribune), Jan. 23, 2025)
  2. Feb. 22, 2017 WDAM reported that, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Mississippi was not among the 12 states with plate-reader-specific laws. NCSL's current state-statutes page lists Mississippi as "No statute identified." (WDAM 7, Feb. 22, 2017; National Conference of State Legislatures, date not shown)
  3. Oct. 18, 2023 The Mississippi Department of Homeland Security awarded Starkville police a $30,000 grant to buy three more license plate readers, adding to two already in use, WCBI reported. (WCBI, Oct. 18, 2023)
  4. May 21, 2024 In an opinion to Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney, the Attorney General's office said state law does not expressly bar municipalities from using automatic license plate readers to verify motor vehicle insurance, that Department of Public Safety insurance-verification data may go to private entities if DPS authorizes it, and declined to opine on fee splits. The opinion does not address retention of reader data. (Mississippi Attorney General's Office, May 21, 2024)
  5. 2025 SB 2430 (Sen. Seymour, 2025) would bar counties and cities from using automated recording equipment that photographs rear plates to enforce motor vehicle liability insurance and require removal of such systems by Oct. 1, 2025; it has no retention or sharing provisions. Final status was not confirmed from an opened page. (Mississippi Legislature, Jan. 2025)
  6. 2025 HB 1709 (Rep. Holloway, 2025) proposed a $430,000 appropriation to the City of Carthage for its police department, including $325,000 for crime-prevention programs such as buying, installing and running license plate readers and live cameras. Whether it passed was not confirmed. (Mississippi Legislature, 2025)
  7. Jan. 2025 Two 2025 bills addressed officer-operated traffic cameras: SB 2201 (Sen. Joey Fillingane) would extend § 17-25-19 to manually operated recording equipment, and HB 1090 (Rep. Charles Blackwell) would require officers using such equipment to verify who was driving. The report followed Moss Point and Hattiesburg agreeing in fall 2024 to let officers use handheld radar cameras. (Magnolia Tribune (republished by Clarke County Tribune), Jan. 23, 2025)
  8. Jan. 10, 2025 HB 528 (Rep. Massengill) would have amended § 17-25-19 to bar camera or plate-recognition traffic enforcement by cities and counties, allowed police-owned mobile plate readers under conditions (a published written policy covering retention and sharing, annual audits, no stop on a reader hit alone, use limited to law-enforcement purposes), and required indefinite logs of who accessed data. It was referred to Judiciary B on Jan. 10, 2025, and died in committee Feb. 4, 2025. (Mississippi Legislature, Jan. 2025; Plural Policy (Open States legislative data), date not shown)
  9. 2026 A resident-started online petition seeks a statewide ban on license plate readers and Flock cameras in Mississippi and had more than 200 signatures, RHCJC News reported. (Mississippi Free Press (republishing RHCJC News, CC BY 4.0), Oct. 1, 2026)

State agencies

Mississippi Department of Public Safety, Office of Homeland Security

Status
Program documented, current use unconfirmed
Vendors
Vendor not named in source
Cameras
19
19 fixed plate readers statewide, per WDAM's Feb. 22, 2017 report; no newer count found.
  1. Feb. 22, 2017 WDAM reported the office operated 19 fixed plate readers around the state and purged data after 180 days. It also reported that a Hattiesburg police reader trailer bought with a $40,000 state grant would send data to the office. (WDAM 7, Feb. 22, 2017)
  2. Oct. 2023 WCBI reported Starkville police had received a $30,000 state homeland security grant to buy plate readers and planned to add three to the two it already ran. (WCBI, Oct. 18, 2023)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Status unconfirmed: no source within the last 12 months shows the fixed readers still in use.
  • WDAM named Vigilant Solutions only in connection with Lamar County, not this office, so vendor is unspecified.
  • Grant-making to local agencies is recorded as context; local recipients are leads for regional researchers.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Mississippi Highway Patrol

Status
Program documented, current use unconfirmed
Vendors
Vendor not named in source
Cameras
3
Three mobile plate readers, per WDAM's Feb. 22, 2017 report; no newer count found.
  1. Feb. 22, 2017 WDAM reported the Highway Patrol had three mobile plate readers and followed Department of Public Safety retention policy. (WDAM 7, Feb. 22, 2017)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Nothing found from the last 12 months on MHP reader use, contracts or I-55/I-20 cameras.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.