AUSTIN — Texas is freezing new automated license-plate readers on state roads — but the cameras already bolted up stay on.

At Gov. Greg Abbott’s direction, the Texas Department of Transportation confirmed Thursday it has stopped issuing permits for Flock Safety-style ALPRs along state rights-of-way, The Texas Tribune reported. The pause also covers agreements that were approved but not yet installed. TxDOT says it reviews permits for correct, safe placement — it does not install the gear or access the plate data.

Existing roadside readers remain live, including more than 900 cameras operated by the Texas Department of Public Safety. The Washington Examiner put the same confirmation on the national wire Friday morning.

What the freeze does — and doesn’t

ALPRs scan passing plates into searchable databases sold as crime tools. Privacy fights have followed: who can query the network, how long plate hits linger, and whether immigration agencies get a look. Abbott’s late-August order already blocked state funding for new Flock buys after Tribune reporting that a small state motor-vehicle crime board had steered at least $30 million toward more than 3,200 Flock cameras statewide.

The TxDOT permit freeze is the next notch — no new hardware on state highways — without a Florida-style order to rip existing cameras down. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told his transportation department on Aug. 31 to remove ALPRs from state roads, arguing against a “surveillance state.” Texas is drawing a harder line on growth than on the cameras already watching traffic.

Cities and counties still decide what happens to locally funded readers. Tribune reporting put statewide Flock gear near 13,000 cameras in August, with hundreds unplugged after the funding crackdown and local pushback.

Why it matters

Mass plate tracking is the quiet surveillance layer of modern policing: no warrant required to remember your car was on a feeder road at 2:17 p.m. Freezing new highway permits slows the map from getting denser. Leaving 900-plus DPS cameras running means the state network does not go dark. That is a half-step libertarians will notice — and cops will too.

Dated Friday, Sept. 18, 2026: TxDOT confirms Abbott-directed freeze on new ALPR permits along Texas state roads; existing DPS cameras (~900+) stay; follows late-August state funding block — Texas Tribune, Washington Examiner.

Sources