Petition to the Bastrop County Commissioners Court
Petition to Prohibit and Remove Warrantless Mass Surveillance Technologies in Publicly Accessible Areas of Bastrop County, Texas

To the Honorable Members of the Bastrop County Commissioners Court:

We, the undersigned residents and property owners of Bastrop County, respectfully petition the Commissioners Court to adopt an ordinance prohibiting the installation, operation, maintenance, or use of warrantless mass-surveillance technologies in publicly accessible areas of Bastrop County by the County, its contractors, or any entity acting on its behalf. We further request the removal of all such technologies already installed on County-owned or County-controlled property.

Findings
The people of Bastrop County recognize the legitimate role of law enforcement in investigating crimes based upon individualized suspicion, judicial oversight, and the protections guaranteed by the Constitutions of the United States and the State of Texas.

However, we oppose the creation and operation of surveillance systems whose primary purpose is the indiscriminate collection, retention, and analysis of information concerning law-abiding citizens.

Modern surveillance technologies—including but not limited to:

Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR) cameras;
Fixed or mobile cameras capable of automated identification or tracking;
Facial recognition systems;
Persistent video surveillance networks;
Cellular, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, RFID, MAC address, IMSI, or other radio-frequency detection devices designed to identify or monitor nearby electronic devices;
Sensor networks capable of documenting the movements or associations of individuals over time; and
Any substantially similar technology—
represent a fundamental departure from traditional observation.

While individuals traveling through public spaces may be visible to others, there is a profound constitutional and philosophical distinction between ordinary public observation and the government's creation of permanent, searchable databases documenting a person's movements, associations, routines, and activities.

The capability to reconstruct months or years of travel, political participation, religious attendance, medical visits, business dealings, shopping habits, and personal associations creates a level of surveillance inconsistent with the principles of a free society.

Furthermore, experiences in jurisdictions across the country have demonstrated that surveillance systems may continue collecting or retaining information beyond their originally intended purpose, may be subject to mission creep, and may be vulnerable to misuse, unauthorized access, or inadequate oversight. These risks justify a clear policy prohibiting such systems rather than relying solely on administrative safeguards.

Statement of Principles
We believe:

Citizens should never be treated as suspects simply because they travel through public spaces.
Government should investigate crimes based upon individualized suspicion—not continuously collect information about the general public in the hope it may someday prove useful.
The existence of comprehensive surveillance databases chills the exercise of constitutional liberties, including freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom of religion, and the right to petition government.
The accumulation of searchable databases creates unacceptable risks of misuse, unauthorized access, political abuse, mission creep, and data breaches.
Technologies designed to identify or catalog vehicles, persons, or electronic devices passing within range transform ordinary movement through the community into a permanent government record.
Liberty requires government power to remain limited, transparent, accountable, and subject to meaningful public oversight.
Requested Action
We respectfully request that Bastrop County adopt an ordinance containing the following provisions:

Section 1. Prohibition
Bastrop County shall not purchase, lease, install, operate, maintain, fund, contract for, or permit the use of surveillance technologies whose primary purpose is the indiscriminate collection or automated identification of persons, vehicles, or electronic devices in publicly accessible areas without individualized suspicion or judicial authorization where required by law.

Section 2. Removal of Existing Systems
Within ninety (90) days of the ordinance's effective date, the County shall identify, deactivate, and permanently remove all surveillance cameras, automated license plate readers, wireless detection devices, and other covered surveillance technologies installed on County-owned or County-controlled property that are prohibited by this ordinance.

Any contracts authorizing the operation, maintenance, licensing, or data sharing of such systems shall be terminated or allowed to expire without renewal at the earliest lawful opportunity.

Following removal, the County shall publish a public report identifying:

the location of each removed device;
the date of its removal or deactivation;
the type of technology removed;
whether any data had been retained; and
confirmation of the disposition or destruction of collected data, consistent with applicable law.
Section 3. Destruction of Existing Data
Except where preservation is required by a valid court order or specific state or federal law, all information previously collected through prohibited surveillance technologies shall be permanently destroyed and shall not be transferred, sold, licensed, or shared with any governmental or private entity.

Section 4. Covered Technologies
The ordinance shall apply to, at minimum:

Automatic License Plate Reader systems.
Public surveillance cameras designed for automated identification or long-term tracking.
Facial recognition systems.
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, RFID, cellular, MAC address, IMSI, or similar wireless detection systems.
Artificial intelligence systems that analyze or correlate data collected from public surveillance devices.
Any future technology substantially similar in purpose or capability.
Section 5. Private Contractors
No County contract shall authorize a private company or other governmental entity to collect, maintain, purchase, license, access, or provide surveillance databases that the County itself is prohibited from creating or maintaining.

Section 6. Transparency
Any future proposal involving surveillance technology shall require:

advance public notice;
publication of technical specifications;
disclosure of all data collection and retention practices;
disclosure of all data-sharing agreements;
a public hearing before approval; and
annual public reporting regarding any authorized use.
Public Safety
Nothing in this petition is intended to prevent law enforcement from:

responding to emergencies;
investigating specific criminal offenses;
obtaining judicial warrants;
collecting evidence related to identified suspects; or
using temporary investigative surveillance authorized by law.
This petition is directed solely at the routine, suspicionless collection of information concerning the general public through permanent or semi-permanent surveillance systems.

Conclusion
Bastrop County has long valued individual liberty, limited government, private property rights, and respect for constitutional freedoms.

Technology should enhance public safety without eroding the liberties it exists to protect. The routine collection of information about every resident, visitor, and traveler simply because they move through public spaces is incompatible with the principles of a free society.

Freedom requires more than preventing unlawful searches after they occur. It requires preventing the construction and continued operation of surveillance systems capable of monitoring every citizen simply because technology makes such monitoring possible.

Accordingly, we respectfully request that the Bastrop County Commissioners Court enact an ordinance prohibiting warrantless mass-surveillance technologies, requiring the removal of all existing prohibited surveillance devices from County-controlled property, terminating related contracts, and permanently destroying unlawfully retained surveillance data to the fullest extent permitted by law.

Respectfully submitted,

The Undersigned Residents and Property Owners of Bastrop County, Texas