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License-plate readers · Cherokee County

Cherokee County

Ended or removed · 1 agency documented

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Tahlequah Police Department

Status
Ended or removed
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
3
Three still operating as of September 2026, of six installed in 2025; three were cut down by vandals.
Contract
Flock Safety: $21,900 term (Tahlequah Daily Press, Oct. 10, 2025)
Sources
KOKH (FOX 25), Sept. 14, 2026; Tahlequah Daily Press, Sept. 2026; Tahlequah Daily Press, Oct. 10, 2025; Tahlequah Daily Press, date not shown
  1. July 2025 The department began using Flock with six cameras on the edges of the city, according to KOKH. (KOKH (FOX 25), Sept. 14, 2026)
  2. Sept. 8, 2026 At Chief Nate King's request, the City Council voted unanimously to remove the Flock cameras and told the city attorney to negotiate the city's way out of the contract. King told KOKH, "It's hard to protect people that don't trust you." (Tahlequah Daily Press, Sept. 2026; KOKH (FOX 25), Sept. 14, 2026)
  3. Sept. 14, 2026 KOKH reported three cameras had been vandalized and cut down, near Mountain Road and the West Bypass, East Allen Road and Bellis Avenue, and the north side near State Highway 82. No one was named. (KOKH (FOX 25), Sept. 14, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Shutdown not confirmed: police said they would notify Flock and revoke officer access before removal, with no removal date given. The city missed the free cancellation window and will still pay some amount this year. $21,900 is the amount King requested for the contract; the period it covers is not stated. The department found no evidence of officer misuse, according to KOKH.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Statewide

  1. 2016 Lawmakers passed SB 359, the measure behind Title 47 section 7-606.1, allowing cameras to find uninsured motorists. The statute bars using plate data collected or kept through these systems for anything other than enforcing the Compulsory Insurance Law "or as otherwise permitted by law," bars selling the data and exempts it from the Open Records Act, except data kept as evidence of a violation. (Justia, 2025; Oklahoma House of Representatives, 2024)
  2. 2016 SB 1056 required a subpoena, court order or search warrant before the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority could share plate-reader data with police, Rep. Tom Gann told News 9. (News 9, July 20, 2026)
  3. Nov. 17, 2017 KGOU and Oklahoma Watch reported that the state had approved a contract with Gatso USA for the District Attorneys Council's Uninsured Vehicle Enforcement Diversion program. It set a $184 fine, with an $80 share per citation going to Gatso at first. The story projected about 26 cameras in the two metro areas in the first year and nearly 40 statewide. (KGOU / Oklahoma Watch, Nov. 17, 2017)
  4. Nov. 1, 2018 The District Attorneys Council says UVED camera units have photographed plates across the state since this date and compared them with the Oklahoma Insurance Verification System. (Oklahoma District Attorneys Council, June 23, 2026)
  5. Aug. 22, 2020 Sensys Gatso announced that it and the District Attorneys Council were ending their UVED partnership after nearly two years. Its president said the state had not prosecuted owners who ignored requests, leaving payment rates too low. The company said it had identified about 22,000 owners as uninsured. (Sensys Gatso, Aug. 22, 2020)
  6. March 14, 2024 SB 1620, which would have allowed plate readers on state highway rights-of-way, failed in the state Senate 13-28. A separate House measure, HB 3570, never reached the floor, News 9 reported. (NonDoc, April 8, 2024; News 9, July 20, 2026)
  7. Sept. 2024 A McClain County judge suppressed plate-reader evidence from a felony traffic stop, finding the use violated state law, according to News On 6 and a statement from Rep. Tom Gann. Only the month was reported. (News On 6, Oct. 2, 2024; Walters Herald, Oct. 3, 2024)
  8. Jan. 1, 2025 KJRH reported that the Oklahoma Department of Transportation had begun telling cities to take plate readers out of state highway rights-of-way. Pryor's police chief said his city's readers sit on city-owned poles and called the matter a "gray area." (KJRH, Jan. 1, 2025)
  9. Feb. 4, 2025 HB 1626, a bill defining terms and authorizing certain uses of plate-reader systems, was introduced. News 9 reported that HB 1626 and SB 857 were never heard in committee. (LegiScan, Feb. 4, 2025; News 9, July 20, 2026)
  10. Aug. 2025 Responding to KFOR, ODOT said it has no plate-reader cameras of its own in highway rights-of-way and neither installs nor enforces with them, and that UVED works with it on where cameras go; the Turnpike Authority said state law authorizes its cameras for toll collection; and the Highway Patrol said it doesn't use these cameras. KFOR's follow-up places its interview with the lawmaker behind the study in August. (KFOR (via Yahoo), Aug. 2025)
  11. Oct. 16, 2025 Rep. Tom Gann led a House interim study on plate readers, telling the panel that statute limits them to checking auto insurance. Presenters suggested consequences for agencies that use the data illegally, KGOU reported. (KGOU, Oct. 20, 2025; Oklahoma House of Representatives, Oct. 16, 2025)
  12. May 4, 2026 Rekor Systems announced a preliminary agreement, with final contract terms still to be negotiated, to stay on as UVED's technology partner under a multi-year deal worth $16.8 million. Rekor says it has worked on the program since 2020. (Rekor Systems, May 4, 2026)
  13. Oct. 1, 2026 U.S. District Judge Sara Hill of the Northern District of Oklahoma suppressed evidence from a traffic stop on two grounds: a Tulsa County deputy prolonged the stop without reasonable suspicion, and his warrantless check of a month of the car's plate-reader history in Flock and VehicleManager was a Fourth Amendment search without probable cause. The order notes that neither the Supreme Court nor the Tenth Circuit has decided the question and that nearly every court to take it up, including other Oklahoma federal courts, has found such use is not a search. (U.S. District Court, Northern District of Oklahoma (via CourtListener), Oct. 1, 2026)
  14. Oct. 21, 2026 Sen. Mary Boren led a Senate interim study on plate readers at the Capitol. The Village's police chief defended the cameras, and an NSU professor and attorney testified that recent court decisions limit Oklahoma's use of the readers to finding uninsured motorists. Lawmakers could take up the issue when the session begins in February. (News 9, Oct. 14, 2026; News 9, Oct. 21, 2026; KOKH FOX25, Oct. 23, 2026)

State agencies

Oklahoma District Attorneys Council (UVED program)

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Rekor Systems
Cameras
Count not documented
Statewide insurance-enforcement sensors; neither the council nor Rekor gives a count. KGOU reported a projection of nearly 40 in 2017, before Gatso's contract ended.
Contract
Rekor Systems: $16.8 million term (Rekor Systems, May 4, 2026)
Contract
Sensys Gatso: $80 per citation at first, falling to $74 after two years and $68 after five term · from 2017 · to 2020 (KGOU / Oklahoma Watch, Nov. 17, 2017; Sensys Gatso, Aug. 22, 2020)
Sources
Oklahoma District Attorneys Council, June 23, 2026; Sensys Gatso, Aug. 22, 2020; Oklahoma Senate / District Attorneys Council, Jan. 7, 2026; Rekor Systems, May 4, 2026; KGOU / Oklahoma Watch, Nov. 17, 2017
  1. Nov. 1, 2018 Camera units began photographing plates statewide for comparison with the insurance verification system. (Oklahoma District Attorneys Council, June 23, 2026)
  2. Aug. 22, 2020 Sensys Gatso announced the partnership was ending. (Sensys Gatso, Aug. 22, 2020)
  3. Jan. 7, 2026 A budget presentation said UVED had enrolled more than 140,000 people; the FY 2025 actual was listed as 140,000 against a 120,000 target. (Oklahoma Senate / District Attorneys Council, Jan. 7, 2026)
  4. May 4, 2026 Rekor announced the $16.8 million agreement in principle. (Rekor Systems, May 4, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Rekor's deal was announced as an agreement in principle; a signed contract was not found. The council's page does not name a vendor and says data is kept by the program only while it serves as evidence of a violation. It does not describe sharing with police. Page last modified June 23, 2026.

From agency records.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol

Status
Checked: no program found
Vendors
Cameras
Count not documented
The patrol told KFOR it doesn't use these cameras.
Sources
KFOR (via Yahoo), Aug. 2025; Oklahoma Senate, Sept. 10, 2024
  1. Aug. 2025 The patrol told KFOR it doesn't use these cameras. (KFOR (via Yahoo), Aug. 2025)
Conflicts and open questions
  • A 2024 Flock presentation to a Senate committee includes a case study in which the patrol located and arrested a kidnapping suspect, told in the vendor's own words. It does not say the patrol has its own Flock contract.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.