East Tennessee ALPR Transparency Hub › Blount County ALPR Transparency

Blount County ALPR Transparency

Public records, current Flock Safety transparency data, program history, regional data sharing, government oversight, and open questions surrounding Blount County, Tennessee’s license plate reader system.

Updated September 2026

Status Records Investigation Ongoing

Current Flock Count 21 LPR Cameras

Blount County Snapshot

Current Scale

Flock LPR Cameras

Flock Transparency Portal · Sept. 2026

Original Proposal

Flock Cameras

BCSO’s 2020 proposal

Growth

+12

Above 2020 Proposal

21 current vs. 9 originally proposed

Reach

Regional

Data Sharing Plan

BCSO described a “much larger grid”

☰ Jump to

Section 1 · Overview

From 9 Proposed Cameras to 21 LPR Cameras

2020 proposal vs. current system: The nine-camera figure below describes the original BCSO proposal, not the current size of the network. Flock Safety’s September 2026 transparency portal reports 21 LPR cameras for the Blount County Sheriff’s Office.

Blount County government’s ALPR network has grown substantially beyond the system described in BCSO’s original 2020 proposal. That proposal sought nine stationary Flock Safety license plate readers. As of September 2026, Flock Safety’s own Blount County Sheriff’s Office transparency portal reports 21 total cameras, all 21 identified as LPR cameras.

That is twelve more cameras than the original nine-camera proposal and more than twice the originally described camera count.

21 current Flock LPR cameras 9 cameras proposed in 2020 +12 cameras above original proposal 133% increase over the original count $47,250 original federal DOJ grant request Sheriff Berrong in office since 1989

The expansion question: The public record reviewed here documents a nine-camera proposal in 2020. Flock’s current transparency portal now reports 21 LPR cameras. Records identifying when the additional cameras were approved, how they were funded, and whether the expansion received a standalone public discussion or vote remain important accountability questions.

Why county-level ALPR matters more, not less: A county network fills the geographic gaps between city systems. A driver who never enters Maryville or Alcoa city limits can still be scanned on county roads. BCSO’s original project description specifically contemplated obtaining neighboring agencies’ data to create what it called “a much larger grid.”

Current camera-count source: Flock Safety · Blount County Sheriff’s Office Transparency Portal . Portal displayed 21 total cameras and 21 LPR cameras in September 2026.

Section 2 · Program History

Public Record: BCSO Flock ALPR Procurement, 2020

Then vs. now: BCSO’s 2020 proposal sought nine Flock cameras. Flock Safety’s current transparency portal reports 21 LPR cameras for the Blount County Sheriff’s Office as of September 2026.

August 2020: BCSO sought nine stationary Flock Safety license plate readers, according to a project description submitted to the Blount County Commission.
Funding source: Project Safe Neighborhood East Tennessee, a U.S. Department of Justice initiative. The total grant request for purchase, installation, maintenance, and operating costs was $47,250.
NCIC integration: the proposed system would compare scans against National Crime Information Center hot sheets that the project description said were “updated every 24 hours.”
The regional-hub plan: after installation, BCSO said it would request data from Oak Ridge, Maryville, Alcoa, Lenoir City, and other local agencies using the system.
The county project description stated: “This will allow for local access to a much larger grid and promotes interoperability.”
Personnel appearing in the record: the project description was authored by Shankle of BCSO. Public Information Officer Marian O’Briant responded regarding camera placement. Then-Maryville Police Chief Tony Crisp told the Daily Times that Alcoa and the county had been looking at the system since Maryville obtained it.

The “Much Larger Grid”

BCSO COUNTY ALPR  (2020 plan)
│
├── 9 Flock cameras proposed
├── NCIC hot-sheet sync (24 hours)
│
▼
"A MUCH LARGER GRID"
│
└── request data from:
    ├── Oak Ridge
    ├── Maryville
    ├── Alcoa
    ├── Lenoir City
    └── other local agencies
        │
        ▼
    REGIONAL INTEROPERABILITY

Sources: The Daily Times, “BCSO looking to get stationary license plate readers” (August 2020) ; Flock Safety, Blount County Sheriff’s Office Transparency Portal .

Section 3 · The 21 Commissioners

The 21 Blount County Commissioners Who Can Act on the County’s ALPR Program

Public notice: This information is provided for transparency and government accountability, not as a call for harassment. Officials are listed only in their public governmental capacity. The policy request is specific: publicly review the county’s ALPR program, require transparency for its operation and expansion, and consider ending or declining future funding or renewal.

New Commission: Blount County’s 2026–2030 County Commission took office on September 1, 2026, following the August 6 county election. Several commissioners listed on older county webpages and records are no longer members of the Commission.

Why the current Commission matters: The existing ALPR program predates many members of the newly elected Commission. That does not make new commissioners responsible for its original approval. It does, however, give the current Commission an opportunity to examine how the system grew from the nine cameras described in the 2020 proposal to the 21 LPR cameras now reported by Flock Safety, and to determine whether future funding, expansion, or renewal should continue.

The following is the Blount County Commission for the 2026–2030 term, based on Blount County’s September 2026 announcement identifying the officials sworn into office.

District / Seat	Commissioner	Status
District 1, Seat A	Jessica Hannah	Current
District 1, Seat B	Keenan Sudderth	New term
District 2, Seat A	Mike Akard	Current
District 2, Seat B	Joe Cooper	New term
District 3, Seat A	Tanner Jones	New term
District 3, Seat B	Neal Porter	New term
District 4, Seat A	Robbie Bennett	Current
District 4, Seat B	Robert G. Simerly	New term
District 5, Seat A	Bob Ramsey	New term
District 5, Seat B	Rick Carver	Current
District 6, Seat A	Nick Bright	Current
District 6, Seat B	Misty Davis	Current
District 7, Seat A	Shannon Effler	New term
District 7, Seat B	Jasmine Satterfield	New term
District 8, Seat A	Roy L. “Hoot” Shields	New term
District 8, Seat B	Jeff Jopling	Current
District 9, Seat A	David Corwin	New term
District 9, Seat B	Chip Blakenship	New term
District 10, Seat A	Doug Moore	New term
District 10, Seat B	David Wells	Current

Executive and program officials

James Lee Berrong, Blount County Sheriff. The ALPR program operates through the Sheriff’s Office, and the original 2020 Flock project proposal occurred during his administration.
Jared Anderson, Blount County Mayor. Anderson took office as County Mayor on September 1, 2026.

Who approved the original program?

The current 2026–2030 Commission should not automatically be attributed with decisions made by previous commissions. The 2018–2022 County Commission was serving when BCSO presented its original nine-camera proposal in 2020.

Determining exactly who approved the original grant, subsequent renewals, and the expansion from nine proposed cameras to the 21 cameras currently reported by Flock requires the corresponding agendas, meeting minutes, grant resolutions, contracts, budget records, and recorded votes.

The question for today’s Commission: Regardless of who originally approved the system, the current Commission can ask how Blount County reached 21 LPR cameras, demand the complete public record, require a standalone public discussion of future surveillance spending, and decide whether county funding or renewal should continue.

Sources: Blount County Commission ; Blount County Commission structure ; Blount County’s September 2026 announcement identifying newly sworn county officials.

Section 4 · Request BCSO Records

Requesting BCSO Records: What Happened When We Tried

Tennessee law gives citizens the right to request public records, including by email when an agency uses email for official business. In September 2026, MaryvillePrivacy.org tested that process with BCSO. The request was ultimately denied after BCSO had already received the request form and Tennessee photo ID.

What happened?

BCSO PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST
│
├── SEPT. 4
│   ├── Request form submitted by email
│   ├── Tennessee driver's license provided
│   ├── License number redacted for privacy
│   └── Name, photo + Tennessee address remained visible
│
├── BCSO RECORDS / ADMIN
│   ├── Received the request
│   ├── Confirmed receipt of the ID
│   └── Forwarded the request for processing
│
├── SEPT. 8–9
│   ├── Deputy rejects the redacted ID
│   ├── GovTransfer signup sent to requester
│   └── BCSO ultimately denies the request
│
└── THE PROBLEM
    ├── State law expressly recognizes email submission
    ├── State law requires ID to include an address
    ├── No license-number requirement identified
    └── No written BCSO policy supporting the denial identified

What Tennessee law says: When a governmental entity requires a copy request to be in writing, it must accept a request submitted by email when the governmental entity uses email to transact official business. Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-503(a)(7)(A)(iv) .

Identification: Tennessee law allows a governmental entity to require a government-issued photo ID that includes the person’s address. The statute does not state that a driver’s license number must be disclosed. Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-503 .

September 9, 2026 — Request Denied: BCSO stated that it would not accept identification “altered from its original form” and ultimately stated, “Our agency has denied your request.” BCSO was asked to identify any written agency policy or Tennessee law requiring disclosure of the driver’s license number or prohibiting the submitted redaction.

Email Is a Statutory Submission Method

BCSO directs public-records requesters toward GovTransfer, a private third-party portal. But an online portal does not eliminate the submission methods provided by Tennessee law. Email remains an expressly recognized method when the agency uses email for official business.

BCSO Records email: reports@bcso.com
Request form: Download the BCSO Public Records Request Form (PDF)

Why this matters: Public-records access should follow Tennessee law and the agency’s published requirements—not depend on whether a citizen agrees to create an account with a private third-party records portal.

Check an ID photo before sending it

If you choose to send identification electronically, check the image for hidden GPS, device, date, camera, and other embedded metadata. The tool below analyzes the photo locally in your browser and does not upload it to MaryvillePrivacy.org.

MARYVILLE PRIVACY PHOTO CHECKER

What does your photo reveal?

Choose a photo to check for hidden metadata such as GPS location, date and time, device make/model, and editing software.

✓ Your photo stays on your device. This checker reads the selected file locally in your browser. The photograph is not uploaded to MaryvillePrivacy.org.

Choose a photo No photo selected

No EXIF does not mean anonymous. An app or website may separately collect information such as your IP address, device identifiers, account information, approximate location, or other technical data even when a photo contains no embedded GPS metadata.

What this tool checks

For supported files, the checker looks for embedded GPS coordinates, capture date/time, camera or phone make/model, software, orientation, image dimensions, and other common EXIF fields.

JPEG is the best-supported format. PNG and WebP receive basic checks. HEIC/HEIF support varies by browser, so those files may show only basic file information.

The plugin sends only anonymous aggregate counter events such as “tool used,” “metadata found,” “GPS found,” or “no metadata found.” It does not send the photo, filename, GPS coordinates, EXIF values, or other photo contents to the server.

Sources: Blount County Records Management ; Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-503 ; Tennessee Office of Open Records Counsel .

Section 5 · Records Gaps

What the Public Record Does Not Yet Show

One major question is now answered: Flock Safety’s own transparency portal reports 21 LPR cameras operated by the Blount County Sheriff’s Office as of September 2026. The original 2020 proposal described nine.

What still needs explaining: When did the system expand from nine proposed cameras to 21? Who authorized the additional cameras, what funding paid for them, and what public meeting, budget, grant, renewal, or contract records document that expansion?

Records still being pursued include:

Locations of all 21 current LPR cameras
Records documenting expansion from the original nine-camera proposal to 21 cameras
Current Flock Safety contracts, renewals, amendments, invoices, and funding sources
Commission agendas, minutes, resolutions, and votes connected to expansion or renewal
Written ALPR use and retention policy
Current data-retention settings
Agency and individual user access lists
Data-sharing agreements and current sharing relationships
Search and audit logs
Hot-list sources and alert configuration
Misuse investigations, complaints, and disciplinary records

Assigning responsibility for individual approvals still requires the actual agendas, minutes, resolutions, contracts, grant documents, and recorded votes. Where those records are not yet available, this page does not attribute a specific approval or vote to an individual official.

Section 6 · Drone Expansion

Flock Pitched a Regional Drone Program Including Blount County

Tennessee public records show Flock Safety pitched a regional drone-as-first-responder program involving Maryville, Alcoa, Blount County, and the Blount County 911 Center.
The estimated regional program cost was $300,000 to $600,000 per year.
The proposal shows how an ALPR network can become the foundation for a broader surveillance system involving cameras, vehicle tracking, real-time intelligence software, and police drones.

Full investigation: Inside Maryville’s Flock AI Drone Program →

Section 7 · Map

Documented Camera Locations

Camera locations via DeFlock, centered on Blount County, Tennessee. Crowdsourced; absence of a marker is not proof a camera is absent.

The accountability request: Blount County residents can ask every commissioner and county official to publish the complete ALPR record, require a standalone public vote for future surveillance spending, and end or decline renewal of the county’s license plate surveillance program.

This page is grounded in public records, Tennessee Public Records Act productions, county meeting materials, vendor materials, and independent reporting. It documents structural facts and the public record; it does not allege criminal wrongdoing by any named party. Where a specific vote is not yet in the record, this page says so.