Todd Minniear
Liberty Township Trustee (President)
- Official email
- [email protected]
- Official phone
- 513-759-7512
- Position on ALPR removal
- Unknown
- Last contacted
- Not yet recorded
Official public contact information published by Liberty Township.
Butler Privacy Project
Remove Flock Cameras from Liberty Township
We're asking the Liberty Township Trustees to remove the township-funded license plate reader cameras. Pausing them and releasing the records are steps toward that goal, not a stopping point.
The short version
Liberty residents are paying for these cameras through the township's police-service funding. Released records now confirm the deal: a signed January 2026 order for 10 Flock license plate readers at $30,000 a year, on a 36-month term that renews automatically unless someone gives 30 days' notice. The reported cost was accurate, and the exit ramp is written into the contract.
That makes it a township decision. The Sheriff's Office may run the cameras day to day, but the Trustees control whether Liberty keeps writing the check. So the Trustees are who we're asking.
This isn't about being against the police. It's about consent, privacy, and keeping an eye on how public money buys surveillance.
How we got here
Every entry below comes from Liberty's own meeting records, released public records, or attributed local reporting.
Jun 23, 2022 BCSO signs a free, five-year data-sharing MOU with Flock — joining the network years before Liberty's cameras.
2023 Flock appears in Liberty's budget planning: a 'Flock camera system purchase + ongoing annual fee' under BCSO public-safety priorities, and a $35,000 'Flock Camera' line in the 2024–2028 financial plan.
Dec 16, 2024 Butler County Commissioners approve a no-bid Flock contract for the Sheriff, 'not to exceed $29,000, effective December 2024 to December 2026.'
Jan 20, 2026 Trustees hold a work session listing 'Flock Camera Discussion.' The minutes record the topic but not what was said.
Jan 22, 2026 BCSO's finance director signs the Flock order: 10 cameras, $30,000/yr, 36 months, $90,000 total, auto-renewing.
Feb 3, 2026 Trustees unanimously approve Addendum #2 — worded only as 'technology needed to provide police services' — charged to the opioid-settlement fund account. No public comments recorded.
Feb 2026 Local reporting identifies the deployment: 10 solar-powered rear plate readers on the township outskirts, install by early spring.
Jul 11, 2026 BCSO confirms to public radio that it participates in Flock's statewide sharing feature.
Aug 3–4, 2026 Our records requests come back: contract, policy, and MOU released; audit and search logs denied in full.
Aug 13, 2026 Flock cuts its default retention to 7 days and announces mandatory audits and MFA — but existing customers keep old settings unless changed. Liberty's current setting: undisclosed.
Aug 18, 2026 Oxford — in this county — votes 6–1 to terminate its Flock contract.
Sources for every entry — Liberty's posted minutes and budgets, the released contract documents, ICE's published MOA, and the news reports — are linked on the Evidence page and the Records page.
What we're asking for
We're asking the Board of Trustees to put a resolution on the agenda that would:
- End the Flock program and take down the township-funded cameras. This is the goal.
- Release the contracts, invoices, policies, sharing settings, and audit records.
- Until removal happens, these interim safeguards should be in place — not as an endpoint, but so the cameras do the least harm possible while the program is still running:
- Pause use of the township-funded cameras.
- Turn off all outside data sharing.
- Require a separate public vote before adding any new sensors.
Why now
Because doing nothing is now a decision. The signed order runs 36 months and renews itself automatically unless someone gives 30 days' notice — and the county commissioners' approval behind it, capped at $29,000 and effective only "December 2024 to December 2026," lapses at the end of this year while the $90,000 order keeps going. Removal doesn't require a legal fight; it requires the will to act, and the Trustees meet twice a month.
And it's already happening here. On August 18, 2026, Oxford — in this same county — voted 6–1 to terminate its Flock contract after concluding that even sharply restricted sharing wasn't enough. Other Ohio communities have run into the same problems with how this data gets shared and who's watching it. Liberty doesn't need to wait for its own version of that before acting.
And the system rarely stays put. Flock's product line already includes vehicle-fingerprint search, video analytics, audio detection, and drone tie-ins. The question isn't only what the cameras do today. It's what the township is signing up to expand later.
What the records answered
The August 2026 records responses settled several of our original questions. The released documents are published in full on the Records page.
What are the contract terms, renewal date, and cancellation clause?
Answered: 10 cameras at $30,000/yr on a 36-month order signed Jan 22, 2026 that AUTO-RENEWS unless either party gives 30 days' notice. Ending it takes a letter, not a lawsuit.
Which agency owns, operates, and administers the cameras?
Answered: BCSO is the contracting party (per the Township's own letter), BCSO administrators control access, and Flock installs, maintains, and hosts everything.
How long is the data kept, and can that be extended?
Answered: Flock purges at 30 days — but BCSO's policy lets it download data and keep it longer under its own schedules.
Are searches limited to specific crimes, or can anyone type in a reason?
Answered: no reasonable suspicion or probable cause is required. Any 'official and legitimate law enforcement business' qualifies; each search logs a CAD or case number.
Are the audit logs reviewed independently, and are the results public?
Answered: no and no. One random internal audit a year, memo'd to the Chief Deputy. Our request for the logs themselves was denied.
Is outside sharing possible, and who decides?
Partly answered: BCSO administrators may grant access to other law enforcement agencies at their discretion, with no limits stated in the policy, and the package includes state and nationwide plate lookup.
What we still don't know
These questions remain open — most because BCSO denied the audit and search-log request in full. Our narrowed follow-up requests press them directly.
Which specific agencies can currently search Liberty-funded data?
Have federal agencies ever requested or accessed this data?
Have any searches involved immigration enforcement?
How many searches and alerts have there been, and what came of them?
Have there been false stops, misreads, complaints, or discipline?
What did the annual internal audits find?
Which county approval covers the signed $90,000 order?
Has anyone discussed adding video, audio, drones, or other tools to the system?
Were less invasive options ever considered?
A script you can use at a meeting
I'm a Liberty Township resident, and I'm asking the Board of Trustees to end the township-funded Flock license plate reader program and remove the cameras.
I'm not against the police. I support real investigations. I don't support keeping a searchable record of where ordinary residents drive when none of us are suspected of anything, and I don't think turning off a few settings fixes that. The system itself is the risk.
We're paying for a system that logs people who've done nothing wrong, stores it with a private company, and may hand it to outside agencies. Other Ohio towns have already canceled contracts like this one, so removal here is realistic, not just wishful.
Please release the contract and policies so residents can see the records, and in the meantime, pause the cameras and shut off outside sharing as interim protection. But please treat removal as the goal, not disclosure alone.
Your trustees
These are the officials who decide whether Liberty keeps funding the cameras. Contact information is published by the township. We don't list anyone's position until they've stated it on the record.
Steve Schramm
Liberty Township Trustee (Vice President)
- Official email
- [email protected]
- Official phone
- 513-759-7513
- Position on ALPR removal
- Unknown
- Last contacted
- Not yet recorded
Official public contact information published by Liberty Township.
Tom Farrell
Liberty Township Trustee
- Official email
- [email protected]
- Official phone
- 513-759-7514
- Position on ALPR removal
- Unknown
- Last contacted
- Not yet recorded
Official public contact information published by Liberty Township.
Ask Liberty Township to pause, disclose, and remove.
Add your name and help make this a public decision instead of a quiet renewal.