Rep. Steube introduces FLAFO Act requiring federal warrants for ALPR database searches

First reported: September 25, 2026 · 1 source

U.S. Representative Greg Steube, a Florida Republican, introduced the Facilitating Liberty and Accountability for Flock Observations (FLAFO) Act, which would bar federal agencies from accessing or operating networked automated license plate reader systems without a judicial warrant. The bill would also condition Department of Justice grant funding on state, local, and tribal agencies adopting comparable safeguards, and it carves out exceptions for emergencies involving missing or endangered people, imminent threats to life, terrorism and foreign espionage investigations, and certain Secret Service, CBP, and national security operations. Steube pointed to a Sarasota Police Department case in which Officer Cory Waiters was arrested in August 2026 and charged with felony official misconduct after an internal audit allegedly found more than 350 searches of a single plate; the charge has not been resolved. The measure has been referred to House committees.

Why this matters

The bill would set a federal warrant standard for a surveillance technology whose constitutional status courts have not settled, and its grant-funding conditions could shape ALPR policy in thousands of local jurisdictions.

Key facts

FLAFO Act penalties for unauthorized database access would include up to five years in prison, civil fines up to $100,000, and private lawsuits in which qualified immunity could not be raised.
Steube cited the case of Sarasota officer Cory Waiters, arrested in August 2026 and charged with felony official misconduct over allegedly searching one plate more than 350 times; the case is an allegation, not a conviction.
On August 31, 2026, the Florida Department of Transportation ordered ALPRs removed from state highway rights-of-way within 30 days, revoking permits for Flock, Axon, and Motorola systems.
A separate bipartisan bill, the No FLOCK Act from Reps. Krishnamoorthi and Cloud, was introduced September 15, 2026, and would withhold 10% of federal surface transportation funds from non-compliant states.
In March 2026 the Fifth Circuit held in United States v. Porter that querying a 10-camera local ALPR database to match a vehicle to a felony warrant was not a Fourth Amendment search.

Sources

This summary was written from the published reporting below and links to it; BlockFlockNow does not reproduce article text.

Florida Rep. Steube's FLAFO Act Would Force Warrants Before Flock Camera Searches (Hoodline, September 25, 2026)

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About this record

BlockFlockNow documents reported incidents involving Flock Safety cameras and automated license plate readers: council votes, contract decisions, misuse by authorized users, lawsuits, audits, and community response. Every record is reviewed by a person before publication. New to the topic? Start with What is Flock?, find meetings near you, or learn how to request your town's camera records.

Updated September 26, 2026. Corrections: blockflock@bytebunny.io. See all documented incidents or search the full article archive.