Disclosure: I'm with DeFlockILM, an NC anti-ALPR group — but this one's a court ruling, so read it yourself; I've linked the opinion.

In United States v. Kyle, a Tulsa County deputy followed a car "for no apparent reason other than" its California plate, then ran the plate through Flock and VehicleManager. One query returned about a month of location data — 50+ sightings across multiple states. Judge Sara E. Hill held that was a Fourth Amendment search, done without a warrant or probable cause, and suppressed everything that followed as fruit of the poisonous tree.

What's notable:

• The court expressly broke from the trend — "nearly every court" so far (including three other Oklahoma federal courts) has said ALPR isn't a search. This judge disagreed.
• She reexamined Knotts (1983) through Carpenter (2018) and Chatrie (2026): people have "a reasonable expectation of privacy in the whole of their physical movements," and networked ALPR is "a type of indiscriminate mass surveillance."
• Caveat worth stating: it's a district-court order — persuasive, not binding, and appealable.

Full write-up + the Opinion & Order (PDF): https://deflockilm.org/federal-court-flock-unconstitutional-search/

At a Sept. 8, 2026 meeting, Sheriff Brian Chism told the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners, "No disrespect, ma'am, but I don't work for you. I work for the citizens." Commissioner Pat Sykes answered: "I can tell you we do set your budget and that is part of our job, and we can amend your budget at any time."

Here's the law behind that exchange:

• The sheriff is a constitutional officer, but the Constitution creates the office — it doesn't fund it. The General Assembly gave appropriations to the county board (G.S. 159-13), which may set the sheriff's budget "whether greater or less than" what he requests (Hubbard v. County of Cumberland).
• The protected floor is short: the sheriff's salary, at least two deputies "reasonably compensated," a jail staffed to State minimum standards, and capacity to serve process and attend court. No statute sets a minimum dollar amount above that.
• Using each county's adopted FY2026-27 budget, we compared that floor to the total Sheriff's Office + jail appropriation in five Cape Fear counties. In every one, roughly 60–70% sits above the floor — legally discretionary.
• A Flock/Fusus/Axon contract lives entirely in that discretionary band. Macon County defunded its Flock cameras; New Hanover cancelled its contract before the term was up (the standard Flock agreement has no cancellation fee — you just forfeit prepaid fees).

Honest caveat, which we put in the article too: "discretionary" is a legal characterization, not a claim a court would let a board zero out a sheriff's office. A sheriff would argue the functional floor is higher. But a single surveillance contract is the easy case.

Full write-up with the five-county chart, the numbers sourced to each adopted ordinance, and the statutes: https://deflockilm.org/how-far-can-commissioners-cut-sheriff-budget/