The Pinal County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 on Aug. 12 to issue a 180-day termination notice to Flock Group Inc., ending the company's permission to keep its license plate reader cameras on county roads.

The decision reaches the San Tan Valley area, where the Pinal County Sheriff's Office provides law enforcement for both the Town of San Tan Valley and the unincorporated communities around it. SanTanValley.com reported on Aug. 5 that Sheriff Ross Teeple had ended the county's Flock camera contract, citing Fourth Amendment concerns about equipment that could do more than photograph plates. The Aug. 12 vote is the next step, and it is a different agreement than the one the sheriff canceled.

Two Agreements, Two Deadlines

The county holds two separate arrangements with Flock, and they end in different ways on different dates. An attorney from the Pinal County Attorney's Office walked the board through the distinction before the vote.

The first is the sheriff's office contract for leasing the camera equipment and the services that run it. That one was not terminated. It was not renewed. The contract does not allow the county to walk away early unless specific conditions are met, such as the company entering bankruptcy, and none of those happened. So the county sent a notice of non-renewal instead. Flock has acknowledged receiving it. The contract stays technically in effect until Sept. 29, then ends.

The second is a right-of-way license, which is what the board voted on. It gives Flock permission to place physical equipment on county infrastructure inside county rights-of-way. It began as a trial agreement approved in August 2022. After the trial ended, the county approved a five-year extension that took effect when it was recorded on Sept. 5, 2024, running through Sept. 5, 2029. Either the county or Flock can end it with 180 days written notice.

The difference matters for what a resident will actually see. Ending the service contract stops the cameras from being used. It does not by itself take the poles and hardware out of the ground. The right-of-way vote is the piece that does that.

How the Equipment Comes Down

Once the termination notice is issued, the county can set a schedule for Flock to remove its equipment from county rights-of-way. If the company misses that schedule, the county can remove the equipment itself and bill Flock for the cost.

No removal schedule existed at the time of the vote, because the board had not yet voted to issue the notice. The county attorney's office advised setting one quickly once the notice goes out. Supervisors asked whether a second meeting would be needed to authorize the schedule and were told it would not, and that staff can proceed once the termination is approved.

The vote covers only cameras under county control. Cities and towns in Pinal County that run their own Flock programs are not affected and can continue them.

Not Every Supervisor Agreed

The item came to the board at the request of Vice Chairman Jeff Serdy, who said at a prior meeting that ending the arrangement could not be done with a statement alone and asked staff to explain what formal action was required.

During discussion, Supervisor Stephen Q. Miller said he had no questions but thought the action carried "some unintended consequences" that should be explored further.

The motion passed 4-1. The county's summary minutes record only that the item was approved. They do not include the motion language, who moved or seconded it, or how each supervisor voted, so the record does not identify who cast the single no vote.

Whether the county's equipment stays dark after Sept. 29 also depends partly on Flock. The county attorney's office told the board that the way the non-renewal is written and the way it plays out should be the same thing, but noted the company is the other party to the agreement.

The sheriff's office contract ends Sept. 29. The removal schedule for the equipment has not been set.