Hernando Sheriff Pulls Flock Cameras From Roads After State Revokes Permits

The Florida Department of Transportation has revoked permits for Flock license plate reader cameras installed along state road rights-of-way statewide, and the Hernando County Sheriff's Office says it is complying, on top of camera removals it had already begun on its own along county roads.

FDOT issued the memorandum on Monday, Aug. 31, citing what it called an "exponential increase" in camera deployments along Florida roadways combined with "concerning reports of misuse, data privacy concerns, and surveillance schemes." The order gives law enforcement agencies statewide 30 days to remove any automated license plate reader, or ALPR, devices sitting in state highway right-of-way. Anything left standing after that gets removed by the state itself.

The Hernando County Sheriff's Office posted on Facebook that it "will fully comply with FDOT's timeline." But the office said it was already ahead of the state on this one: before the directive came down, it had "proactively initiated the removal of Flock ALPR cameras previously located along county-maintained rights-of-way."

The removal only touches cameras sitting in public right-of-way, whether state or county. About 20 privately owned and operated ALPR cameras on commercial properties and private developments around Hernando County are not affected and can stay right where they are.

A fight that started months before the state got involved

The cameras had already become a flashpoint at the county level before FDOT's order landed. Hernando County Commissioner Ryan Amsler pushed for an ordinance that would require commission approval before the Sheriff's Office installs any more Flock cameras, plus a full review of the ones already up. Amsler's argument was straightforward: the Sheriff's Office had put more than 40 cameras up across the county without bringing the board into the conversation first.

That led to a commission workshop this week where the Sheriff's Office and representatives from Flock gave presentations to commissioners, laying out how the cameras are used and what the agency says they've helped solve. The workshop had been building toward some kind of vote or ordinance language. Now the state directive has effectively settled the question for cameras on public roads, at least for the ones that sat in a right-of-way.

Why the state moved

Gov. Ron DeSantis had signaled this was coming. Speaking at Florida International University on Aug. 26, he said license plate readers are a useful tool for law enforcement but that he doesn't want Florida sliding into what he called a surveillance state. He's also been pushing for a legislative "AI Bill of Rights" that stalled during both the 2026 regular session and the special session that followed it.

Because FDOT's memo functions essentially as an executive-level directive rather than a state law, it isn't permanent by statute. A future governor could reverse course and let the permits come back.

What's still unresolved locally

The FDOT order handles the cameras that sat along roads. It doesn't answer the bigger question Amsler raised: whether the county commission gets a formal say before the Sheriff's Office installs surveillance equipment anywhere in Hernando County going forward, including on non-road public property. That review and any ordinance language remain in front of the commission after this week's workshop, and no vote date has been set.

Get local coverage of what happens next at the Hernando County Community Website, follow along on Facebook, and join the conversation in our Community Forum. For more coverage on local government decisions like this one, visit our public safety and government and politics sections.

Header photo: Tony Webster / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)