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License-plate readers · Doña Ana County

Doña Ana County

Using license-plate readers · 3 agencies documented

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Dona Ana County Sheriff's Office

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
30
About 30 in place with 22 more planned, per Lt. Eric Flores (KFOX, June 24, 2026). Sheriff Kim Stewart gave 30 in unincorporated areas, with more coming; public records show a late-2025 contract for 12 more (haussamen.com, Feb. 11, 2026). The 22 and 12 figures differ and neither source reconciles them.
Contract
Flock Safety: $162,000 total · from June 2026 · Commissioners approved this to keep the program running under a single agreement. KFOX says it pays the annual subscription and new cameras and was budgeted already; term not stated, so whether it is annual is unknown. Approval described only as recent, month is the article month. (KFOX14/CBS4, June 24, 2026)
Contract
Flock Safety: $34,200 total · from June 2022 · to Aug. 2022 · A quote, not a confirmed executed contract: 12 Falcon cameras at $2,500 ($30,000) plus $4,200 implementation. Quote created June 6, 2022; dates shown are quote creation and expiry. The form lists the $30,000 as recurring. (Dona Ana County Sheriff's Office, June 6, 2022)
  1. June 2022 A sheriff's office sole-source form for Flock cameras, with a quote for 12 units created June 6, 2022, said the cameras would monitor traffic along routes it described as used for drug trafficking. The form itself is undated. (Dona Ana County Sheriff's Office, June 6, 2022)
  2. Feb. 2026 Cameras were reported in places including Vado, Chaparral and San Miguel. County Commission Chairman Manuel Sanchez said he wanted to be sure the data is not shared with ICE and that he needed to learn more about the agreement. (haussamen.com, Feb. 11, 2026)
  3. June 2026 Lt. Eric Flores said the office began using Flock around 2022, that searches require a case number, and that the office self-audits monthly. He said: "The cameras aren't used to surveil just everyday citizens." (KFOX14/CBS4, June 24, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Haussamen reports that the Las Cruces, Dona Ana County and NMSU contracts allow Flock to share data regardless of agency settings in certain situations, including emergencies. We did not open the contract.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Las Cruces Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
45
45, according to Chief Jeremy Story and NMSU interim Chief Justin Dunivan (haussamen.com, Feb. 11, 2026).
Contract
Flock Safety: $737,000 term · Roughly $737,000 over five years, part of a $1.8 million real-time crime center investment, per haussamen.com. Start date not stated; contract not opened. (haussamen.com, Feb. 11, 2026)
  1. Jan. 2021 First purchase of 10 readers. (haussamen.com, Feb. 11, 2026)
  2. Dec. 2021 Purchase of 12 more readers. (haussamen.com, Feb. 11, 2026)
  3. Sept. 11, 2025 General Order GO-173 took effect. It sets 30-day retention unless data is evidentiary, requires monthly sample audits and an annual system audit, and says an alert alone is not probable cause. (Las Cruces Police Department (copy hosted by haussamen.com), Sept. 11, 2025)
  4. Feb. 2026 The department said it keeps data 30 days, limits sharing to agencies in New Mexico and El Paso, has "never shared with federal agencies," and bars searches about immigration or reproductive care. (haussamen.com, Feb. 11, 2026)
  5. July 2026 KRWG reported that Flock cameras helped in a recent Las Cruces hit-and-run case, and that residents have spoken against the readers at council meetings. (KRWG, July 6, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • GO-173 lists an effective date of 09/11/2025 and revised and reviewed dates of 04/30/2025, as printed. It does not name a vendor; Flock comes from news coverage.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

New Mexico State University Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
7
Seven at campus entry and exit points, including Aggie Memorial Stadium (haussamen.com, Feb. 11, 2026).
  1. Feb. 2026 Reported to have seven readers at campus entry and exit points; haussamen.com reports the contract has an emergency-sharing clause like those of the city and county. (haussamen.com, Feb. 11, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Single source. Status rests on the February 2026 report of a current deployment; no contract or university record was opened.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Statewide

  1. July 30, 2025 The Legislature's interim Science, Technology and Telecommunications Committee heard testimony on plate readers and recommended exploring legislation on statewide guidelines. KUNM reports the discussion took place on a Wednesday; the date is derived from its July 31 publication. (KUNM, July 31, 2025)
  2. Jan. 15, 2026 Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, filed the Driver Privacy and Safety Act with Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos, as co-sponsor, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican. It became Senate Bill 40. (Santa Fe New Mexican, Jan. 15, 2026; New Mexico Legislature, 2026; BillTrack50, March 4, 2026)
  3. Jan. 29, 2026 The Senate Tax, Business and Transportation Committee advanced SB 40 by a 6-4 vote. KOB and the Journal report Democrats in favor and Republicans opposed. The Journal gives the day as Thursday; date derived from its Feb. 1 publication. (Albuquerque Journal, Feb. 1, 2026; KOB, Feb. 3, 2026)
  4. Feb. 3, 2026 KOB reported that public records it obtained show immigration-related searches of New Mexico police plate databases from Texas, Iowa, North Dakota and South Carolina. It also reported that the Albuquerque police, New Mexico State Police and Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen supported SB 40. (KOB, Feb. 3, 2026)
  5. Feb. 12, 2026 The Senate passed SB 40 by a 32-8 vote, according to a release on nmsenate.com. (nmsenate.com, Feb. 12, 2026)
  6. Feb. 17, 2026 The ACLU of New Mexico said in a Feb. 17 press release that the House gave final legislative approval and the bill went to the governor. (ACLU of New Mexico, Feb. 17, 2026)
  7. March 4, 2026 SB 40 was signed by the governor as Chapter 20, per BillTrack50's record of the last action. (BillTrack50, March 4, 2026)
  8. July 1, 2026 The Driver Privacy and Safety Act took effect. As described by KOB, it bars sharing plate data for immigration enforcement, with out-of-state agencies investigating abortion access, and with non-law-enforcement agencies. (KOB, July 1, 2026)
  9. July 1, 2026 The Senate Judiciary Committee substitute (the version opened; the enrolled text could not be opened) makes plate data confidential and not a public record, requires a written declaration from out-of-state recipients, has agencies report annually to the Department of Public Safety by April 1 with aggregated publication by July 1, and allows a civil penalty of $10,000 or actual damages, whichever is greater, for each intentional violation. The attorney general, district attorneys and DPS may enforce it. (New Mexico Legislature, 2026)
  10. July 1, 2026 Los Alamos County says the act requires annual reporting to the Department of Public Safety and treats reader data as confidential and outside the state public records law. The Senate release also describes annual reports and confidentiality. (Los Alamos Daily Post (Los Alamos County release), date not shown; nmsenate.com, Feb. 12, 2026)
  11. July 6, 2026 Daniel Williams of the ACLU of New Mexico told KRWG that data was misused before SB 40 passed, saying agencies around the country reached New Mexico data thousands of times "in the previous year" with search terms like immigration, ICE and HSI. He said the ACLU does not oppose the readers outright. (KRWG, July 6, 2026)
  12. Sept. 8, 2026 Sheriff John Allen said he plans to seek statewide retention standards in the 2027 session. Wirth had said in January he intended to pursue a storage limit in the 60-day session. (The Paper / nm.news, Sept. 8, 2026; Santa Fe New Mexican, Jan. 15, 2026)

State agencies

New Mexico State Police (Department of Public Safety)

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Vendor not named in source
Cameras
Count not documented
A 2024 opinion piece by two state representatives says 20 units were deployed; no current count opened. No count published in the sources opened. Taos County Manager Brent Jaramillo said he believes the state installed Axon Outpost readers at U.S. 64 and 285 in Tres Piedras but does not know for certain (Taos News, Aug. 19, 2026).
  1. Oct. 2023 The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that State Police had plate-reading technology in place, with a department rule that most of what it captures be erased every 10 days. (The Santa Fe New Mexican, Oct. 2023)
  2. Aug. 1, 2024 Reps. Jenifer Jones and Luis Terrazas wrote in an opinion piece that State Police put 20 plate-reader units into service that month. They wrote that they had jointly secured $320,000 for police technology that includes such readers; the piece does not say that money bought these units. (Grant County Beat, Aug. 1, 2024)
  3. July 2025 KUNM reported State Police used readers to arrest a suspect in a fatal shooting at the University of New Mexico. The story, dated July 31, 2025, places this in the prior week. (KUNM, July 31, 2025)
  4. Dec. 2, 2025 KOB reported that State Police share plate data with many organizations and responded to its request for data-sharing audits. APD Chief Harold Medina said he believed APD's data was shared only within APD and with State Police. (KOB, Dec. 2, 2025)
  5. Feb. 3, 2026 KOB reported State Police supported SB 40. (KOB, Feb. 3, 2026)
  6. Aug. 4, 2026 The Taos County Commission was scheduled to take up a state memorandum for Department of Public Safety readers on roadway lighting fixtures at sites the state transportation department approves, with the county paying added electricity. The commission tabled it, with no date set to return, and the Taos News reported installation does not depend on the county signing. (The Taos News, Aug. 2026; The Taos News, Aug. 19, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Active rests on KOB reporting in December 2025 on current sharing; no contract, vendor or current count found.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.