Will County Board member proposes banning license plate readers on county property

Event: November 9, 2026 · First reported: November 9, 2026 · 1 source

Will County Board member Destinee Ortiz, a Romeoville Democrat, submitted a resolution that would prohibit automated license plate reader systems, including Flock cameras, on property owned or controlled by Will County and within county highway rights of way. The proposal would also rescind existing county authorizations, require removal of equipment and bar county funding for the systems, though it would not reach municipal property outside county jurisdiction. Ortiz separately proposed a temporary moratorium on data center development. Both were set for the Executive Committee agenda on Thursday, where they could be referred to other committees; no vote on support was scheduled.

Why this matters

County rights of way are a common siting path for municipal ALPR cameras, so a county-level ban would affect deployments well beyond county-owned land and offers a template other counties weighing similar agreements may examine.

Key facts

The resolution would ban ALPR systems on Will County property and county highway rights of way, rescind existing authorizations and prohibit county funding.
Ortiz was among eight board members — four Republicans and four Democrats — who voted against intergovernmental agreements in August allowing municipalities to use county rights of way for Flock cameras.
Before the board's Oct. 15 meeting, roughly 70 emailed comments opposed Flock cameras and about a dozen supported them.
Board Speaker Joe VanDuyne, a Wilmington Democrat, said the cameras help law enforcement solve crimes but favored strict penalties for officer misuse.
The proposals were scheduled only for referral consideration at the Executive Committee; the full County Board holds final authority and no timetable has been set.

Sources

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

Will County Board member Destinee Ortiz seeks Flock camera ban, data center moratorium (Chicago Tribune, November 9, 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 November 9, 2026. Corrections: blockflock@bytebunny.io. See all documented incidents or search the full article archive.