Knox County TN Flock camera ban and removal order (2026)

Knox County, Tennessee — Emergency Ordinance Banning License Plate Readers and Ordering All 143 Flock Cameras Removed Within 30 Days, Passed Unanimously (August 31, 2026)
Knox County, TN · Knox County, Tenn. — emergency ordinance banning license plate readers and requiring removal of all 143 Flock cameras within 30 days (adopted August 31, 2026)

Status
In effect
Took effect
August 31, 2026
Applies to
Knox County Sheriff's Office and any Knox County agency operating license plate readers; Flock Safety as vendor of the installed hardware
Enforced by
Knox County Commission; Knox County Sheriff's Office (removal obligation)

Knox County Commission unanimously passed an emergency ordinance on August 31, 2026 banning license plate readers in the county and ordering all 143 Flock cameras removed within thirty days. Because it was adopted as an emergency measure it required only a single vote and took effect immediately. Commissioner Adam Thompson brought the ordinance after sustained public opposition. Two details from the run-up are worth recording because they explain why the reaction was so complete. In late 2025 the Commission had approved a $1.5 million grant to the Knox County Sheriff's Office under the Tennessee Violent Crime Intervention Fund to advance crime-solving technology. And the Sheriff's Office had spent years buying Flock cameras in batches priced just ten dollars under the $25,000 threshold that would have required mayoral review — a procurement pattern that kept a 143-camera surveillance network out of the approval process that was supposed to catch it. Knox County is not simply declining to renew a contract, which is what most jurisdictions in this dataset have done. It banned the technology and ordered the existing hardware physically removed on a deadline.

Who is protected: Knox County, Tennessee residents and drivers whose vehicle movements were captured by the county's 143 Flock license plate readers

Legal detail

Knox County, Tenn. — EMERGENCY ORDINANCE banning automated license plate readers, passed unanimously by the Knox County Commission on August 31, 2026 and effective immediately (emergency measures require only a single vote to become law in Knox County). OPERATIVE REQUIREMENT: removal of ALL 143 FLOCK LICENSE PLATE READERS in the county WITHIN 30 DAYS — approximately September 30, 2026. SPONSOR: Commissioner Adam Thompson. INSTRUMENT CLASS — stronger than the dominant pattern: most jurisdictions indexed here acted by declining to renew or terminating a Flock contract, which leaves the technology lawful and the decision reversible by a later council. Knox County BANNED the technology by ordinance AND ordered the physical removal of installed hardware on a fixed deadline. PROCUREMENT FINDING THAT DROVE THE REACTION, recorded because it is the transferable lesson: the Knox County Sheriff's Office spent years purchasing Flock cameras IN BATCHES PRICED JUST $10 UNDER THE $25,000 THRESHOLD that triggers mayoral review — structuring purchases to stay beneath the approval ceiling, so a 143-camera network accumulated without ever passing through the oversight mechanism designed to catch it. FUNDING BACKDROP: in late 2025 the Commission approved a $1.5 million grant to KCSO under the Tennessee Violent Crime Intervention Fund to advance crime-solving technology, which is the money the LPR conversation grew out of. SEPARATE FROM the two Knox-area DATA CENTER measures indexed here (Knox County TN one-year data center moratorium (2026) and Knoxville TN one-year large data center moratorium (2026)) — same county, unrelated subject.

Key facts

JurisdictionKnox County, TN
LevelCounty
StrengthStronger
EnactedAugust 31, 2026
CitationKnox County, Tenn. — emergency ordinance banning license plate readers and requiring removal of all 143 Flock cameras within 30 days (adopted August 31, 2026)
Private right of actionNo, agency enforcement only
PenaltiesLicense plate readers are banned in the county; all 143 installed Flock cameras had to be removed within 30 days of August 31, 2026
Topicspolice and surveillance AI · consumer data privacy · government use of AI · data retention
News reportKnox County Commission votes to remove Flock cameras; here's what happens next — WVLT

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