National News Brief: Two New House Bills on License Plate Readers, NBC's Look at Flock Contracts, Flock's Senate Deadline, and the Postal Service's Election-Mail Plan

Summary: A Republican and a Democrat each filed a House bill to rein in license plate reader cameras, NBC News found many Flock camera deals never got a vote by elected officials, Flock's deadline to answer Sen. Schumer passed as it cuts staff, the Postal Service starts extra ballot-delivery steps October 24, and federal funding runs out December 11.

Two New House Bills on License Plate Readers

NATIONAL — Automated license plate readers (ALPRs) are cameras that photograph every passing plate and log the time and place, so police can search where a car has been. Last week, two members of Congress from opposite parties filed bills to rein them in, but in very different ways.

Rep. Pat Harrigan (R-NC) introduced H.R. 10822, the Automated License Plate Reader Accountability Act of 2026, on October 15 and announced it October 17. It would let government keep using plate readers, with limits. Agencies would need a warrant based on probable cause before searching plate-reader records, and each warrant would cover only specific vehicles and time periods. Most records would have to be permanently deleted within 24 hours. The bill would bar tracking people by the political or religious messages on their vehicles and bar using the cameras to enforce civil immigration law or minor traffic violations. Private vendors could not sell, share, or repurpose the data. Emergencies involving an imminent threat to life would be allowed, with a judge reviewing within 48 hours. States would get two years to pass similar safeguards before losing 10% of certain federal criminal justice grants. “The Fourth Amendment doesn't disappear because technology makes surveillance easier,” Harrigan said. The text Harrigan posted is a draft; the official printed version is not on Congress.gov yet.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) introduced H.R. 10807, the Get the Flock Out of Our Communities Act, on October 13 with six Democratic cosponsors. It goes much further. No federal money could be used to buy, run, or access plate readers, facial recognition, or other biometric surveillance, by any federal, state, or local agency. Systems paid for with federal funds would have to come down within 30 days, the data would have to be deleted within 7 days, and evidence gathered in violation could not be used in court. Cities and states would have to certify they don’t use these systems to get two major federal police grants (Byrne JAG and COPS).

Both bills went to the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees. Neither has had a hearing or a vote. The House is next scheduled to meet on October 22.

NBC News: Many Flock Camera Deals Never Got a Vote

An NBC News investigation published Monday reviewed local government contracts and public records for Flock, the largest plate-reader company. NBC wrote: “In dozens of communities, residents and their elected representatives never voted on whether to install them.” It found police departments and other officials “regularly purchased Flock surveillance technology through deals that avoided competitive bidding or fell just below spending thresholds that require approval by elected representatives.”

Here’s how that works. Many cities and counties let staff sign contracts below a set dollar amount without bringing them to the council or board. A camera contract priced just under that line can start without a public vote by elected officials. NBC’s lead photo shows Flock cameras at intersections in Sedona, Arizona. Sedona's council voted unanimously in September 2025 to cancel its Flock contract and remove the cameras.

Flock's Senate Deadline Passes as the Company Shrinks Its Staff

On October 4, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer wrote to Flock CEO Garrett Langley. He asked about Flock’s National Lookup Tool, which lets agencies search camera data collected outside their own areas, and about reports of hacked cameras and officers misusing plate readers. He also asked how much data Flock keeps and whether any federal agency has accessed it, and he asked Flock to delete personal data not tied to a crime. He set an October 16 deadline. No public written reply had been reported as of Monday morning.

Separately, Reuters reported that Flock plans to let go of about 18% of its roughly 1,500 employees, about 270 people, at the end of October after a voluntary buyout program, as it faces opposition from communities and lawmakers. Flock told TechCrunch it “was a voluntary program, not a layoff.” Reuters also cited a Reuters/Ipsos poll in which 38% of Americans supported Flock cameras in their community and 47% opposed them.

The Postal Service's Election-Mail Plan and Suspicious Letters to Election Offices

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) says it will handle ballots this year the same way it did in past elections. Government Executive reports the Supreme Court blocked USPS from carrying out a March executive order on mail voting, and USPS says it is not enforcing the August rule that would have required states to send it lists of mail voters and follow new envelope and barcode rules. Starting October 24, USPS will run its “extraordinary measures” for ballots: extra deliveries and collections, special pickups, longer hours at processing plants, and Sunday collections. USPS also paused further changes to its truck schedules starting October 17. Because of those changes, a postmark can land a day after a ballot is mailed, and voters can ask the clerk at the post office counter for a same-day postmark. USPS recommends mailing a ballot at least seven days before it is due. In Arizona, mail it by Friday, October 23.

The Postal Inspection Service and the FBI are investigating “a series of suspicious mailings” sent to several secretaries of state’s offices. NBC News reported packages with an unknown substance went to offices in Ohio, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. In Arizona, an envelope that arrived at the Secretary of State’s office on October 15 led to an evacuation of the Executive Tower, and officials said the next morning that the substance was not toxic.

What's Next: Federal Funding Runs Out December 11

The stopgap law Congress passed in September (P.L. 119-103) funds federal agencies only through December 11, 2026. Congress has to pass the yearly spending bills or another stopgap by then to avoid a lapse in funding on December 12.

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