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License-plate readers · Florence County

Florence County

Using license-plate readers · 2 agencies documented

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Florence County Sheriff's Office

Status
Program documented, current use unconfirmed
Vendors
Flock Safety, Vendor not named in source
Cameras
14
14 fixed Flock cameras planned as of March 2024, plus vehicle-mounted readers in use since November 2023 (vendor for those not stated). No installed count was found.
Contract
Flock Safety: $62,000 total for 14 cameras · Planned for roads near Timmonsville, Johnsonville, Effingham and Lake City, and border routes on U.S. 52 (Darlington County line) and U.S. 76 (Marion County line). (The Post and Courier, March 7, 2024)
Sources
The Post and Courier, March 7, 2024; WMBF News, July 3, 2024
  1. Nov. 2023 The sheriff's office first installed vehicle-mounted plate readers. Data is kept one year, and hot-list hits two years. (The Post and Courier, March 7, 2024)
  2. July 2024 Sheriff T.J. Joye said he had the cameras but had waited about a year for SCDOT approval, so he was placing them on private property with homeowners' help. He said he wanted to buy more. (WMBF News, July 3, 2024)
  3. Sept. 2024 WBTW reported that the City of Florence and Florence County share access to each other's cameras. (WBTW News13, Sept. 24, 2024)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Nothing since Oct. 31, 2025 confirms current use.
  • Lake City appears only as a place where the county planned cameras; no Lake City Police Department program was found.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Florence Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
66
Contracts for 66 cameras, about 52 installed, including 36 live-view PTZ cameras downtown (Post and Courier, Jan. 1, 2026). The first 30 were installed March-May 2024.
Contract
Flock Safety: $397,500 state grant (covers purchase plus four years) · approved by S.C. General Assembly (state budget) · WBTW gave the grant as $397,500; the Post and Courier and a later WBTW story round it to about $400,000. Covers the first 30 cameras for four years. (WBTW News13, March 10, 2024; The Post and Courier, March 7, 2024; WBTW News13, Sept. 24, 2024)
Contract
Flock Safety: $330,000 total (approximate) · Interim Chief Stephen Starling said the city had spent about $330,000 on additional cameras. (The Post and Courier, Jan. 1, 2026)
Sources
The Post and Courier, Jan. 1, 2026
  1. March 6, 2024 The S.C. House approved H. 5146 on second reading, 61-39; it gave the bill third reading the next day. The joint resolution would have had SCDOT work with Florence County and the City of Florence on readers at intersections of state-maintained roads, with 90-day retention, no commercial use and no use for minor traffic violations. It stalled in the Senate Transportation Committee. (South Carolina General Assembly, date not shown; WBTW News13, March 10, 2024)
  2. March 12, 2024 H. 5146 was referred to the Senate Transportation Committee; the bill history shows no further action. (South Carolina General Assembly, date not shown)
  3. May 2024 Police finished installing 30 Flock cameras between March and May 2024; some went on private or city property, which does not need SCDOT approval, while SCDOT was slow to approve sites on state right-of-way. (WBTW News13, Sept. 24, 2024; WBTW News13, March 10, 2024)
  4. Sept. 2024 Police reported that from March to August 2024 the cameras contributed to 32 arrests of wanted people, 17 recovered stolen vehicles and 5 missing people found. The city and county share access to each other's cameras. (WBTW News13, Sept. 24, 2024)
  5. Jan. 2026 The interim chief said plate alerts led to more than 50 arrests in 2025. The city has contracts for 66 cameras, with about 52 installed. (The Post and Courier, Jan. 1, 2026)
  6. Jan. 2026 Police launched 'Keep Florence Safe', a Flock program for registering business and home cameras. More than 100 businesses signed up. It is a video registry, not an ALPR program. (WMBF News, Jan. 6, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Grant amount differs by outlet: $397,500 (WBTW, March 2024) vs. about/almost $400,000 (Post and Courier, March 2024; WBTW, September 2024).
  • WMBF reported that SCDOT paused state-road installation approvals while legislation was pending (July 2024).

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Statewide

  1. March 2024 By March 2024 SCDOT had stopped approving new plate-reader installations in state right-of-way, citing ongoing litigation, according to an SCDOT spokeswoman. In February 2024 Transportation Secretary Christy Hall had said the department found more than 200 Flock cameras on state right-of-way without permits. A Flock spokesman said cities, counties and private owners could still install cameras elsewhere. The date the pause began was not reported. (The Post and Courier, March 11, 2024)
  2. July 2024 Local agencies reported working around the SCDOT pause, e.g., mounting cameras on private property or utility poles (Florence County SO, Loris PD; both outside the Midlands). (WMBF News, July 3, 2024)
  3. Jan. 14, 2025 H. 3155 (Rep. Rutherford) introduced and referred to House Judiciary: would restrict ALPR use to listed purposes, cap retention at 90 days, bar sale of data, and make violations a misdemeanor. No action after referral shown on the bill page. (South Carolina General Assembly, Jan. 14, 2025)
  4. Feb. 13, 2025 H. 4013 (Reps. J.E. Johnson, Gilliam, Bailey, Guest; Alexander added 2025-03-26) introduced and referred to House Education and Public Works: lists lawful ALPR uses, 90-day retention for law enforcement absent an investigation, audit logs, written public policy, ban on sale; expressly lets SLED operate an ALPR database; adds Section 57-3-786 directing SCDOT to set up a permit process for government cameras on non-interstate rights of way. No action after referral shown. (South Carolina General Assembly, Feb. 13, 2025; Municipal Association of South Carolina, date not shown)
  5. March 12, 2025 S. 447 (Sen. Brian Adams; companion H. 3155) introduced and referred to Senate Judiciary. Similar framework to H. 4013 (permitted uses, 90-day retention, written policy, access logs, visual confirmation before stops, no sale of data, SLED database authorized, SCDOT permitting via new Section 57-3-786) and makes misuse of law enforcement ALPR data a misdemeanor (fine up to $1,000 and up to two years in prison). (South Carolina General Assembly, April 9, 2026)
  6. April 15, 2025 WSPA quoted an SCDOT spokesperson on April 15, 2025 saying it was "unclear" whether the devices are allowed in state-owned right-of-way; on April 17 WIS reported SCDOT had not installed readers in state right-of-way for more than a year and was waiting for direction from lawmakers. (WIS News 10, April 17, 2025; WSPA 7NEWS (via Yahoo News), date not shown)
  7. April 15, 2025 A Senate Judiciary subcommittee gave S. 447 a favorable report; the full committee carried it over (per MASC tracker). (Municipal Association of South Carolina, date not shown)
  8. March 2, 2026 Attorney General Alan Wilson joined two Georgia-led multistate friend-of-the-court briefs, with 17 other states signing alongside South Carolina, supporting police use of license plate readers against Fourth Amendment challenges. The office's release does not name the cases or courts. (South Carolina Attorney General's Office, March 2, 2026)
  9. April 9, 2026 Senate Judiciary Committee reported S. 447 favorably (statehouse bill page lists 4/9/2026; MASC tracker lists 04.08.2026). No later floor action is shown on either page; FOX Carolina reported in September 2026 that lawmakers are expected to revisit ALPR rules in January 2027. As of these sources South Carolina has no statute specifically governing ALPR. (South Carolina General Assembly, April 9, 2026; Municipal Association of South Carolina, date not shown; FOX Carolina, Sept. 11, 2026)
  10. Sept. 2026 Gov. Henry McMaster, asked by FOX Carolina after Florida moved to remove Flock cameras from state roads, said law enforcement should not be deprived of such tools and that misuse should bring accountability. (FOX Carolina, Sept. 11, 2026)

State agencies

South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED)

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Vendor not named in source
Cameras
6
SLED's own units as SLED described them in 2022: five trailer-mounted portable readers and one fixed reader; most reads in its central database come from local agencies (48 contributing agencies, ~400 million reads, three-year retention, per 2022 reporting).
Sources
GovTech / The State, Nov. 17, 2022; WSPA 7NEWS (via Yahoo News), date not shown; Flock Safety / Lexington Police Department, Dec. 7, 2025
  1. Nov. 2022 Reporting on a petition against SLED described its central ALPR database ("Back Office"): about 400 million plate images kept three years, SLED-owned units of five trailers and one fixed camera, data from 48 agencies. (GovTech / The State, Nov. 17, 2022)
  2. Dec. 7, 2025 SLED is listed among organizations with access to Lexington Police Department's Flock data on Lexington PD's Flock transparency portal. (Flock Safety / Lexington Police Department, Dec. 7, 2025)
Conflicts and open questions
  • WSPA (April 15, 2025) quoted senior SLED agent Mark Amos as saying the data is used only for law-enforcement investigations and that every search has a reason behind it.
  • No South Carolina statute expressly addresses the database; petitioners challenging it say no law authorizes it and SLED says state law does. H. 4013 and S. 447 would authorize it expressly.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.