Two weeks ago, Current Revolt handed Texans a cheat code. Many people are using it, and now the bills are coming in. Five cities got the same nine questions and gave five different answers at five different prices.
Carrollton coughed up 228MB for free. Pflugerville wanted under 40 bucks. Bedford wants $1,839. The Texas State Police called their lawyers. Colleyville wants $11,826 before anyone lifts a finger!
Texans took Sam Aly’s cheat code and started firing it at their own city halls. The original article, with the exact template readers are using, is here:
CARROLLTON
The City of Carrollton actually sent over their Flock contract as well as other documents for a total of 228MB of data. An analysis by Tommy Paine says:
605 organizations sit on Carrollton PD’s Flock sharing list. 154 Lowe’s parking lots feed straight into the cops’ search screen. Home improvement is heavily monitored, but not for illegal aliens, only us suspicious Americans with driver’s licenses. Then there’s 22 Academy stores, a Sheraton, and HOAs you’ve never heard of. Police in 21 other states share their cameras with Carrollton. 485 Texas agencies get Carrollton’s data feed back, including DPS and the state prison system. There’s even a network named for a private Christian school. This is all just the access map. The log of who actually searched is still coming.
Unfortunately, the City of Carrollton wants $180 to provide all the emails from Flock to the city.
If you’d like to help Current Revolt out with covering this cost, consider upgrading to a paid subscription or you can donate here:
BEDFORD
Reader and patriot Justin H. requested the Flock documents from The City of Bedford.
Bedford turned over several documents totaling 37 MB of data. Tommy Paine’s analysis of the Bedford data:
Bedford handed over the contracts, the policies, and the council file, but not where the cameras are. Their excuse is an AG letter from an earlier records request, and the letter itself says right on the last page not to treat it as precedent for any other request. Whoops!
Then there’s how they shop for this spy system. To skip competitive bidding, Bedford certified that only Flock could do the job, on a recycled copy of last year’s form, dated a week after the purchase order, with Flock’s sales bullets copied off the CEO’s own letter. Whoops!
Asked if competing products exist, the city wrote one word. No. But of course, sitting in the same stack of records is a 2023 agreement Bedford signed for free trial gear from Axon, a company that sells license plate readers. Bedford’s own records office labeled it an ALPR trial. The city signed for a competitor’s equipment, then certified competitors of Flock don’t exist.
The next $223,500 sailed through on consent agendas with no discussion recorded in the minutes the city released.
But wait, there’s more!
Unfortunately, the City of Bedford is requesting $1,839 to get the rest:
KELLER
Another reader (patriot) sent requests to both The City of Colleyville and Keller.
Keller came back asking for clarification, the reader tells us. We haven’t seen Keller’s letter yet, but we’ve seen this movie before. Carrollton tried the same thing but folded five days after we answered it in writing.
COLLEYVILLE
Colleyville lawyered up, then they put up a paywall and asked for $11,826!
Every dollar due before anyone lifts a finger.
The request dies in ten business days unless the reader pays up, narrows the request, or takes the city to the Attorney General over the insane price.
Colleyville says they have over 26,000 emails between themselves and Flock. That’s more than the entire population of Colleyville!
They watch every car in town and charge you $11,826 to return the favor.
Keep filing, Texans.
Email us back your responses to tips@CurrentRevolt.com
They don’t have to ask for costs. They could waive the cost or simply not charge it. Unfortunately, cities use excessive costs to scare off public oversight. I’d say maybe the Legislature should fix it, but they created it. And they exempted themselves from the law.
Anyway, a link to the annual Texas Public Information Act Handbook from OAG is below. If you don’t like clicking links, just google the handbook or go to the OAG website. City Council members should be put on record whether they support using inflated cost estimates to keep public information hidden from the public.
https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/files/divisions/open-government/PIA-Handbook-2026.pdf
$11k is chump change. Get ready to check your email in a few minutes.