Residents urge Brazos County to weigh privacy and election-data concerns

Ivan Sephic, identifying himself as a Brazos County resident in Precinct 2, told the Commissioners Court that the recent rollout of Flock Safety automated license-plate reader (ALPR) cameras goes beyond plate capture and “takes pictures of every single person and vehicle that passes by to catalog everything from the number of people in a car to what bumper stickers you have.” He said he is logged by the cameras up to 10 times a day on his commute and urged the court to consider the privacy consequences of what he called “mass surveillance.”

The commenter framed his concern in constitutional terms and cited U.S. Supreme Court decisions, saying Jones v. United States (2011) and Carpenter v. United States (2018) support a reasonable expectation of privacy in prolonged tracking of a vehicle’s movements. "Now given the recent expansion of these cameras, it is clear that the goal of these systems is indeed to comprehensively monitor and catalog every single movement of an individual's car for a very long period," he said.

Another speaker raised election-administration worries tied to the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). The speaker described two HAVA complaints filed about statewide tally and turnout figures for recent elections and said one complaint was dismissed by the Secretary of State and the filer had pursued district-court action. The speaker warned that a finding of HAVA noncompliance could jeopardize federal funds and urged the court to consider forming a citizens’ committee to examine alleged anomalies and improve transparency.

The court did not take immediate action on either the ALPR concerns or the HAVA complaint during the meeting. Commissioners heard the public comments during the citizen-input portion of the agenda and proceeded with business items, including discussion and votes on separate agenda matters. The comments were recorded for consideration and did not result in an advisory vote or formal direction at this session.

What happens next: citizens requested more transparency and follow-up; the court did not announce a formal staff assignment or timeline to respond to the privacy or election-administration concerns during this meeting.