Abbott Freezes New Flock Cameras on Texas Roads
Abbott Freezes New Flock Cameras on Texas Roads
The News
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has frozen the installation of new Flock license plate cameras along state roads, ordering the Texas Department of Transportation to stop issuing permits for automated license plate readers.
The freeze applies to new installations. Roughly 900 Flock cameras already installed and operated by the Texas Department of Public Safety will remain in use along state roads.
The order was reported Friday, Sept. 18, 2026.
What a Flock Camera Does
Flock's devices are automated license plate readers — roadside cameras that photograph passing plates and log them. In Texas, the cameras at issue sit along state roads, which is why TxDOT permits control whether new ones go up.
Timeline
Abbott directs the Texas Department of Transportation to stop issuing permits for automated license plate readers on state roads, freezing new Flock installations.
Reporting confirms the roughly 900 Flock cameras already installed and operated by the Texas Department of Public Safety will stay in service.
Reactions
The order came from Abbott himself, directed at TxDOT — the agency that controls permits for equipment placed along state roads.
Coverage split on the emphasis. WFAA in Dallas framed the move as a permit freeze on automated license plate readers ordered by the governor. The Washington Examiner stressed the limit of that freeze: the roughly 900 cameras already up and run by DPS keep operating.
Neither outlet's account, as carried on the wire, included comment from Flock Safety.
What's Next
With permitting halted, no new automated license plate readers can be approved for state roads until Abbott's order is lifted or changed.
The open questions are how long the freeze lasts, whether it is extended to the cameras already in service, and whether local agencies operating their own readers off state right-of-way are touched at all. The Frank will update as Abbott's office and TxDOT spell out the terms.
Poll
Should Texas allow automated license plate readers on state roads?
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