Tuscaloosa Approves Up-to-$182,100 Flock Contract
The City Council unanimously approved an amendment with Flock Group, Inc. before the contract terms were publicly available.
Updated on Nov. 4, 2026 in City Hall
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The Tuscaloosa City Council unanimously approved a contract amendment with Flock Group, Inc. authorizing spending of up to $182,100 over three years. The contract document was not publicly available ahead of the vote.
Why it matters
The resolution lets Mayor Walt Maddox sign the amendment before its terms become public, raising questions for residents about oversight of the city's license plate camera program. The request came from the Tuscaloosa Police Department, which amends and extends a 2023 contract with Flock.
The city's Flock contract is capped at $182,100, with $64,500 due in the first year and $58,800 in each of the following two years, according to the resolution. Tracking sites count more than 60 Flock cameras across the greater Tuscaloosa area, but the city's own agenda packet does not confirm how many are currently in use.
The players
Flock Group, Inc.
Flock Group is the company that supplies automated license plate reader cameras to law enforcement agencies, and it is the counterparty to Tuscaloosa's contract amendment.
Walt Maddox
Walt Maddox is the Mayor of Tuscaloosa, who is authorized by the resolution to execute the contract amendment with Flock.
Cassius Lanier
Cassius Lanier is the Tuscaloosa City Council member for District 7, who was absent from the vote.
The details
Councilmembers voted five to zero with District 5 vacant and District 7's Cassius Lanier absent. A city spokesperson said the signed contract will become public record a few days after the vote, and the city declined to answer questions about Flock camera use when asked in April.
Timeline
April 2026: City declined to answer questions about Flock camera use.
Tuesday, November 3, 2026: City Council unanimously approved the Flock contract amendment.
A few days after the vote: Contract execution expected, making its terms public record.
Local Context
Tuscaloosa's expansion of its Flock contract runs counter to Walker County's decision to ban the cameras outright, showing how neighboring Alabama localities are diverging on automated license plate surveillance.
Residents in Tuscaloosa and the surrounding county may be affected by how Flock camera data is collected and shared, since the agenda packet does not disclose retention periods or who can search the records. Anyone wanting to know how their local plate data is handled will need the executed contract once it is released.
The takeaway
Because the contract terms were not public before the vote, residents who want to understand how Tuscaloosa uses license plate cameras should review the executed amendment once it is released. Checking retention limits and search access in that document is the clearest way to see what the city has agreed to.
What happens next
The signed contract amendment is expected to become public record a few days after the November 3, 2026 vote.
Further reading
For more on local council decisions, see City Hall coverage across Tuscaloosa.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Tuscaloosa Thread.
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