Draft Resolution
A resolution any resident can hand a Murphy City Council member, calling for disclosure and a public process before any renewal, new grant, or expansion of the city's Flock Safety camera program.
On October 6, 2026, Murphy's council opted to have Flock remove its four cameras. That ends the program, but it does not put anything in writing. Murphy's Flock program was approved through two grant votes, on December 3, 2024 and again on May 5, 2026, with no published contract, no disclosed cost, and no public vote on the program itself, and none of that changed on October 6. So the ask below is not "cancel a contract." It is: publish what the city already has, require a warrant for searches, set a real retention limit, and hold a hearing and a recorded vote before any camera program is restarted, renewed, expanded, or funded with another grant.
How to use this page
Copy the text below, or print the page. Bring it to a council meeting during public comment, attach it to an email to a council member, or hand it to one in person. Any council member can place it on an agenda. Any resident can hand it to one.
The resolution
RESOLUTION NO. ____
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MURPHY, TEXAS, DIRECTING PUBLIC DISCLOSURE AND A PUBLIC HEARING PROCESS PRIOR TO ANY RENEWAL, NEW GRANT, OR EXPANSION OF THE CITY'S AUTOMATED LICENSE PLATE READER PROGRAM; AND PROVIDING FOR RELATED MATTERS.
WHEREAS, the City of Murphy operates automated license plate reader ("ALPR") cameras supplied by Flock Group Inc. ("Flock Safety"), first approved by the City Council on December 3, 2024, when the Council voted 5-0 to accept a state Catalytic Converter Theft grant under Senate Bill 224 to purchase the cameras (Resolution 24-R-1115); and
WHEREAS, on May 5, 2026, the City Council voted again to seek another Senate Bill 224 grant to keep the camera program funded for fiscal year 2027; and
WHEREAS, as of this writing the City has not published the Flock Safety agreement, the locations of cameras, the annual cost of the program, the data retention period, or the list of outside agencies able to search Murphy's camera data, and neither of the Council's two votes on this program was accompanied by a noticed public hearing on ALPR policy or a public vote on whether to operate the program at all; and
WHEREAS, the City of Wylie, Texas, a neighboring jurisdiction, voted 7-0 on August 25, 2026 to discontinue its own Flock Safety contract; and
WHEREAS, on August 28, 2026, Governor Greg Abbott directed state agencies to stop funding Flock Safety cameras, calling into question the durability of the state grant funding on which Murphy's program currently relies; and
WHEREAS, in Carpenter v. United States, 585 U.S. 296 (2018), the United States Supreme Court held that the aggregation of location data over time raises Fourth Amendment concerns distinct from a single observation made in public, a principle this Council treats as persuasive guidance for a searchable, retained database logging every vehicle that passes through Murphy; and
WHEREAS, this resolution requires no repeal of any existing agreement and advances no new legal theory: it directs disclosure of information the City already possesses and establishes a public process for any future decision on the program;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MURPHY, TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The City Manager is directed to publish on the City's website, no later than thirty (30) days after adoption of this Resolution: the current agreement or agreements between the City and Flock Group Inc.; the number and general locations of ALPR cameras the City operated; the current annual cost of the program; the data-retention period; and a list of the outside agencies with the ability to search data collected by Murphy's cameras.
SECTION 2. The City Manager and Police Department are directed to require, as a condition of any current or future agreement, that searches of ALPR data collected within the City of Murphy be supported by a warrant or a recognized exception to the warrant requirement, and to configure the City's network and access settings to technically prevent outside agencies from searching Murphy's data absent such a warrant or exception.
SECTION 3. The City Manager and Police Department are directed to set and publish a short, defined data-retention limit for ALPR data collected within the City, after which such data shall be automatically deleted.
SECTION 4. Prior to seeking, accepting, or renewing any grant or contract for license-plate-reader or similar surveillance technology, the City Council shall hold a noticed public hearing on the proposed program, grant, or renewal.
SECTION 5. Any continuation or expansion of the City's ALPR program, including renewal of the Flock Safety agreement or acceptance of any further grant supporting it, shall be placed on a Council agenda as an individual action item, not a consent-agenda item, and decided by a recorded public vote.
SECTION 6. This Resolution shall take effect immediately upon its passage.
DULY PASSED AND APPROVED by the City Council of the City of Murphy, Texas, on this ____ day of ____________, 2026.
_________________________
Scott Bradley, Mayor
ATTEST:
_________________________
City Secretary
A note on this draft
This is a citizen-drafted model resolution prepared by DeFlock Murphy, offered as a starting point for Council consideration. The City Attorney would review and conform any resolution before adoption. It does not claim to know contract terms or costs Murphy has not disclosed: it asks the city to publish them. Facts cited above are drawn from the City of Murphy's own council minutes and reporting (including the Murphy Monitor's October 6, 2026 report of the Council's decision to have Flock remove its four cameras), the City of Wylie's public vote, the Governor's August 28, 2026 directive, and Carpenter v. United States, 585 U.S. 296 (2018).
Any council member can place this on an agenda. Any resident can hand it to one. To reach the council directly, use the email tool on the home page.