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License-plate readers · Onslow County

Onslow County

Removing or limiting cameras · 1 agency documented

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Onslow County Sheriff's Office

Status
Removing or limiting cameras
Vendors
PlateRanger
Cameras
12
12 stationary PlateRanger cameras per WITN (Aug. 2026) and Public Radio East (Oct. 2026); WITN reported 11 in October. All stationary units are to come down starting November 2026, replaced by readers in patrol cars.
  1. Aug. 19, 2026 The sheriff's office said it does not use Flock and has 12 Ranger (PlateRanger) cameras, phased in starting that spring. (WITN, Aug. 19, 2026)
  2. Aug. 25, 2026 The sheriff's office said plate data with no match is kept 30 days and then deleted, and that access is limited to trained users. (WCTI News 12, Aug. 25, 2026)
  3. Oct. 19, 2026 Sheriff Chris Thomas told county commissioners the office will not renew its contract for fixed roadside readers and will remove them starting in November, moving to readers mounted in patrol cars along with Axon in-car and body cameras already funded in the budget. He said the main reason was the workload from more than 50 alerts per shift. (WITN, Oct. 20, 2026; Public Radio East, Oct. 20, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • The maker of PlateRanger is not named in the sources. Planned Axon in-car readers are not yet documented in use.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Statewide

  1. 2015 Session Law 2015-190 added Article 3D to Chapter 20 of the General Statutes (G.S. 20-183.30 to 20-183.32), the state's rules for police use of automatic license plate readers. Later amendments came in 2021 and 2023. (North Carolina General Assembly, date not shown; North Carolina General Assembly, date not shown; North Carolina General Assembly, date not shown)
  2. 2015 Under G.S. 20-183.31, a state or local law enforcement agency must adopt a written plate-reader policy before its system goes live. The policy must cover the databases used, retention, sharing with other agencies, operator training, supervision, data security and access, audits at least once a year reported to the agency head, and use of systems the agency doesn't run. Data may be used only for law enforcement purposes and not to enforce traffic violations. (North Carolina General Assembly, date not shown)
  3. 2015 Under G.S. 20-183.32, captured plate data may be kept no longer than 90 days unless a sworn written preservation request or a state or federal search warrant applies; preserved data must be destroyed after one year unless the request is renewed. The data is confidential, not a public record, may be shared only with criminal justice officials for a legitimate law enforcement purpose on written request, and may not be sold. Hot lists must be updated every 24 hours or as soon as practicable. (North Carolina General Assembly, date not shown)
  4. 2023 Session Law 2023-151, Section 5, set up a pilot program letting NCDOT make agreements with the State Bureau of Investigation to place fixed plate readers on state-owned right-of-way. It also repealed G.S. 20-183.32A effective Jan. 1, 2024. Session Law 2024-43, Section 3, amended the pilot, which was set to expire July 1, 2026. (North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (filed with the N.C. General Assembly), April 7, 2026; North Carolina General Assembly, date not shown)
  5. July 2024 Flock Safety obtained the state license it needed in July 2024; the license runs through July 31, 2026, The News & Observer reported, citing the Department of Public Safety. (The News & Observer (republished by AOL; original URL not found), Aug. 12, 2024)
  6. Jan. 2025 The N.C. Association of Chiefs of Police and the N.C. Sheriffs' Association helped the SBI pick the first pilot agencies. Each agency signed a memorandum of understanding with the SBI and could choose its own vendor; cameras on state right-of-way need an NCDOT encroachment approval first. (North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (filed with the N.C. General Assembly), April 7, 2026)
  7. June 16, 2025 NCDOT approved the first encroachment agreements for plate readers in state right-of-way under the pilot. The first cameras went up July 20, 2025, installed by the Raleigh Police Department. (North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (filed with the N.C. General Assembly), April 7, 2026)
  8. April 7, 2026 The SBI's initial report to legislative oversight committees said 32 agencies (12 police departments, 19 sheriff's offices and the State Highway Patrol) had asked for 250 cameras on state right-of-way. As of March 15, 2026, 17 agencies had installed 140 camera locations, with 75 more pending, and no data had been kept longer than 90 days. The SBI asked for an extension to July 1, 2028, a statewide coordinator position, $225,000 a year for access to vendors' data (pilot agencies used four vendors) and grants for cameras at state entry points. (North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (filed with the N.C. General Assembly), April 7, 2026)
  9. July 7, 2026 The state budget, S.L. 2026-41 (Senate Bill 257), was signed. It made the SBI-NCDOT right-of-way plate-reader program permanent and requires the SBI to report on it each year to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice and Public Safety. Similar language had been in House Bill 206 but was removed before that bill passed. The ACLU of North Carolina opposed the provision. (UNC School of Government, North Carolina Criminal Law blog, July 27, 2026; The News & Observer (via GovTech / Tribune Content Agency), July 16, 2026)
  10. July 2026 An NCDOT spokesperson said the department does not install or run the cameras but can inspect them to confirm they sit in approved spots in the right-of-way. (The News & Observer (via GovTech / Tribune Content Agency), July 16, 2026)

State agencies

North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Vendor not named in source
Cameras
Count not documented
Administers the state right-of-way program: 140 camera locations installed by 17 agencies as of March 15, 2026.
  1. April 7, 2026 The SBI reported that its own investigators had used plate-reader data in homicide, drug and missing-person cases, and that pilot agencies used four vendors. (North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (filed with the N.C. General Assembly), April 7, 2026)
  2. July 7, 2026 The budget made the SBI's right-of-way program permanent and added an annual report to lawmakers. (UNC School of Government, North Carolina Criminal Law blog, July 27, 2026)

From agency records.