Sheriff’s Office Pursues Use of Automated License Plate Readers
St. Mary’s County is moving toward installing its first fixed automated license plate reader.
On July 28, the County Commissioners authorized the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office to apply for $100,000 through the FY27 Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant. If awarded, the grant would be combined with $110,000 from the Sheriff’s Office asset forfeiture fund to cover the project’s $210,000 cost.
The proposed camera is planned near Route 5 and Mohawk Drive in Charlotte Hall and would scan vehicles traveling through the two northbound and two southbound lanes.
According to a memo from Sheriff Steve Hall, the system would scan license plates against law enforcement “hotlists,” including stolen vehicles, felony warrants, and AMBER and Silver alerts. Hall wrote the camera would provide an additional security tool in a county that hosts significant federal government and military operations at Naval Air Station Patuxent River.
At the July 28 meeting, Captain Stephen Simonds of the Patrol Division told County Commissioners the Sheriff's Office has used mobile license plate readers on certain police vehicles for years. Simonds described a possible “longer vision” of placing cameras on major arteries in and out of the county.
Commissioner Eric Colvin asked Captain Simonds how the proposed system differs from Flock cameras, which have become a source of community concern.
Simonds acknowledged concerns surrounding privately operated systems such as Flock, particularly over how data is governed and shared. He said governance of those systems has largely been determined by individual law enforcement policies and vendor contracts, and some agencies were unaware that vendors could sell or share collected data.
Maryland enacted additional restrictions on ALPR data in 2024. Simonds said Maryland has “some of the strongest legal safeguards” governing the technology.
Under Maryland Public Safety Article § 3-509, law enforcement agencies and vendors are prohibited from selling ALPR data, vendors' access is restricted unless expressly permitted, and agencies must adopt policies governing ALPR use. The Maryland State Police also must report annually on the number of ALPR systems in the state, the number of license plate readings collected and stored, and requests for access. The law limits sharing of collected ALPR data to the Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center.
The Sheriff's Office's publicly available Policy 428 allows ALPRs to be used for “official law enforcement purposes,” including identifying stolen or wanted vehicles, missing persons, active warrants, homeland security, electronic surveillance and suspect interdiction.
The policy also states that ALPRs can be used during routine patrol or criminal operations and that “reasonable suspicion or probable cause is not required before using” the technology. The policy makes the Special Operations Commander responsible for protecting ALPR data.
The proposed ALPR would add to the county's growing use of automated camera technology. The Sheriff's Office also operates speed cameras in certain school zones.
Potential locations of school speed cameras
Installation of those cameras began recently after the County Commissioners approved an ordinance regulating their use in 2024 and a vendor contract with NovoaGlobal, Inc. in 2025. The Sheriff's Office requested two positions to oversee the program. The projected cost of those positions and the vendor's installation, operation and support is approximately $670,000, with anticipated revenues expected to offset the cost.
Although the vendor agreement allowed the vendor to perform a needs assessment to determine locations, the Commissioner’s instructed the Department of Public Works & Transportation to conduct their own speed study. Results from the study showed speeding in all school zones.
A NovoaGlobal representative told the County Commissioners in June 2025 that they’re seen between 50-80% reduction in speeds in other jurisdictions where they’ve installed cameras. By law, the Sheriff’s Office must advertise camera locations in the newspaper. An ad placed in the Enterprise on August 7, 2026, lists the current locations as: Mechanicsville, Banneker, Oakville, and Greenview Knolls Elementary Schools; Spring Ridge Middle School; and Great Mills High School.
The only confirmed Flock camera identified in St. Mary's County is on private commercial property at Lowe's in California, based on independent research.
