State lawmakers in West Virginia are mounting a fresh challenge against the use of artificial intelligence-powered surveillance cameras, arguing that the technology infringes on constitutional privacy rights. The West Virginia Freedom Caucus, led by Delegate Chris Anders, has announced plans to reintroduce the Fourth Amendment Restoration Act, a measure that would ban automated license plate readers, facial recognition software, surveillance drones, and other advanced tracking tools used by law enforcement across the state.
Anders, chairman of the Freedom Caucus, said in a statement that the group strongly opposes the unchecked expansion of surveillance technologies, including systems operated by the security company Flock Safety. He described these tools as a dramatic expansion of government surveillance that is fundamentally at odds with the Fourth Amendment. The caucus is calling on all state municipalities to immediately remove automated license plate readers and halt any further deployment of such systems.
« No state or local government should be mass tracking the daily movements of law-abiding citizens without a warrant. Mass surveillance has no place in a free society, » Anders said in a statement posted on the caucus's social media account. He stressed that the Constitution does not disappear simply because technology advances.
The Fourth Amendment Restoration Act has been introduced in the West Virginia Legislature twice in recent years but has failed to reach the governor's desk. Anders blamed legislative leadership for blocking the measure, specifically pointing to House Speaker Roger Hanshaw and House Judiciary Chairman JB Akers for declining to bring the bill forward for a vote. « Constitutional rights should never be quietly buried in committee, » Anders said, adding that the Freedom Caucus will use every parliamentary tool available to force an up-or-down vote in both chambers.
Chairman Akers defended his position, telling Fox News Digital that the legislature actually passed a bill last session limiting the amount of surveillance law enforcement may conduct on private property. He accused Anders of submitting sloppily drafted bills provided by outside groups and argued that Anders's proposals would prevent even routine law enforcement actions that conservatives generally support. Akers recounted a previous amendment from Anders that would have prevented police from entering property even if a dead body were in plain view in the front yard, calling the idea « dumb. »
Other Freedom Caucus members echoed Anders's concerns. State Senator Craig Hart pointed to a 2025 incident in Georgia where a police chief was arrested for allegedly using automated license plate readers to stalk and harass people. Secretary of the Freedom Caucus Henry Dillon argued that Flock cameras create a database documenting where law-abiding citizens worship, seek medical care, conduct business, and travel. « That is fundamentally incompatible with a free society, » Dillon said.
According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Atlas of Surveillance, at least five West Virginia municipalities currently use Flock Safety license plate readers. Other cities, such as Wheeling and the state capital Charleston, operate drones, camera registries, and intelligence fusion centers. The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the city of Huntington over a $2.1 million contract with Flock for AI-powered surveillance equipment, arguing that the deal would blanket the city in license plate recognition cameras, live video, gunshot detection devices, and automatically dispatched drones. More than 50 citizens attended a city council meeting to voice opposition to the agreement.
Huntington Mayor Patrick Farrell defended the contract, noting that Flock cameras in other states have already helped capture West Virginia suspects, including a murder suspect. The debate underscores a growing tension between law enforcement's use of technology for crime prevention and the privacy rights of citizens, a conflict that is now playing out in state legislatures across the country.
