Marathon County sheriff ran 23,435 Flock searches under policy that makes audits optional

First reported: September 19, 2026 · 1 source

Wausau Pilot & Review reported that the Marathon County Sheriff's Office ran 23,435 license plate reader searches between 2023 and 2026 under a policy, Policy 423, that says command staff "may conduct audits" at any time but sets no schedule, no sample size, no written findings and no reporting requirement. The newsroom's comparison of 37 released versions of the office's policy manual found that a September 2023 rewrite replaced earlier language saying audits "should be conducted on a regular basis" with the permissive "may" wording, while adding other restrictions such as a required reason for each search. The nearby Wausau Police Department uses the same vendor under a policy requiring an annual audit and a written report to the chief, and released three completed audits; Marathon County denied requests for its audit records and camera locations, citing risk to investigations. Sheriff Chad Billeb said the office maintains clear policies and supervisory oversight and intends to keep the cameras.

Why this matters

The comparison shows how two agencies in the same county can run identical ALPR systems under sharply different accountability rules, and how permissive policy language can leave the public without any verifiable record of whether searches were reviewed.

Key facts

USA TODAY-obtained Flock audit logs show 23,435 searches by the sheriff's office between 2023 and 2026; eight plates ranked among the 5,000 highest-frequency searches nationally, which USA TODAY says is not itself an accusation of wrongdoing.
Of 781 searches through Aug. 12 of this year, 355 (45.5%) were logged for drug and narcotics investigations; four searches, or about 0.5%, involved missing or endangered persons.
At an Aug. 11 Public Safety Committee meeting, Supervisor Ann Lemmer asked whether "may" could be changed to "shall"; Capt. Jeff Stefanek said the change could be made but would need future discussion.
Marathon County said no corrective actions have ever been issued for misuse of the system; Policy 423 carries no effective date, adoption date or signature.
During the 32 months the policy went unchanged, the office added three cameras and joined ICE's 287(g) jail enforcement program.

Sources

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

23,000 license plate searches, no required audit: inside Marathon County’s Flock policy (Wausau Pilot & Review, September 19, 2026)

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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 21, 2026. Corrections: blockflock@bytebunny.io. See all documented incidents or search the full article archive.