The future of Lebanon’s 20 Flock cameras will likely be decided Tuesday night.
Last month, after Flock Safety failed to respond to a letter with more than 50 questions, the city council voted to place bags over Lebanon’s automated license plate readers and explore terminating the city’s contract with the company.
But not long after, Flock Safety did reply. Mayor Mark Messer said he wasn’t satisfied with its answers.
“And then that mixed on top of the fact that I find it an affront to the Fourth Amendment,” Messer said. “'I'm a termination vote for sure.”
Earlier this month, an Oklahoma federal judge ruled the use of Flock cameras may be unconstitutional because the Fourth Amendment provides a reasonable expectation of privacy.
But Messer said other city council members might feel differently than him.
“My understanding is that there are people who want to remove the bags and keep the systems on,” Messer said, referring to some of his fellow council members. “I don't know necessarily if they're going to move on that on Tuesday or not.”
Flock Safety’s answers
Messer wondered whether Flock Safety retains data for more than 30 days.
The company replied data “that could not be associated with an individual vehicle were previously retained for longer periods of time for potential useage [sic] in Traffic Analytics,” should the Lebanon Police Department choose to pay for that service.
It added that Flock does not sell customer data, but the de-identified data is “legally distinct.”
Messer said he was dissatisfied that Flock made a distinction for “commercially viable and valuable material.”
He added that Flock Safety also could not produce the terms Lebanon originally agreed to in 2024.
The company directed Lebanon to its website for current terms, writing that it did not maintain an archive of versions prior to July 2025.
Messer said he cannot find the original terms on the Wayback Machine, which can be used to display previous versions of a website.
“I just am not comfortable with an evolving contractual agreement that governs a contract that I signed two years ago,” Messer said.
What comes next?
Council member Matt Sellers is sponsoring the resolution on Tuesday’s agenda to terminate the contract with Flock Safety.
“Frankly, they dodged some of the hardest questions. When a company that wants to watch our residents won’t give straight answers, that tells you something,” Sellers said in an email.
Sellers, who has always voted against the technology citing both the U.S. and Ohio constitutions, said conservatives should side with him in considering what the country’s founders would want.
“I hope my fellow council members will look at this vote through the lens of our citizens’ constitutional rights, not through fear of being less safe,” Sellers said. “Liberty is never lost all at once. It’s lost one ‘reasonable’ decision at a time, and on Tuesday we have a chance to stop that here in Lebanon.”
If Sellers’ resolution fails, Messer said the city could either continue in the present state — with bags over the automated license plate readers — or a council member could motion to remove the bags and turn the cameras back on.
Council members Jen Harper and Brad Lamoreaux did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Vice Mayor Scott Norris and council members Mike Cope and Kristen Eggers all declined to comment, citing their previous public statements on the topic.
Norris, Cope, Eggers and Harper voted down a September motion to terminate the contract with Flock Safety. All but Harper voted to instead place bags over the cameras.
The elected officials’ most recent opinions are unknown to the public because the council entered executive session during its last work session about the cameras.
Tuesday’s meeting will take place at 7 p.m. in Council Chambers, at 50 South Broadway, Lebanon, OH 45036.
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