Lafayette County Sheriff Sunshine Request Data

Lafayette County Sheriff's Office: ALPR System Records Audit

This page tracks the open, unresolved public records request submitted to the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office regarding the operational footprint, database access parameters, and internal policies governing their use of automated license plate readers (ALPR).

Executive Summary: Midwest Transparency Audit initiated a formal Missouri Sunshine Law request to the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office to uncover the financial footprint, data-sharing integrations, and internal usage policies regarding their Flock Safety automated surveillance network. Initial correspondence with the Sheriff's Office revealed a concerning, yet common, administrative hurdle: an attempt to defer public records obligations to third-party entities. The department initially suggested that the requested records might reside with the vendor (Flock Safety) or the Missouri Department of Public Safety. Following a formal statutory demand reminding the department of its strict legal obligations under Chapter 610, RSMo, Lafayette County Counsel intervened—bypassing a severe county email firewall failure—to deliver the initial contract and establish a legally compliant rolling production schedule.

Core Accountability Findings

The Sunshine Law Battle: Audit Timeline

Current Status: Initial records released. The County Counsel bypassed the Barracuda Firewall using a county associated Gmail and released the Service Agreement with Flock Safety.
Administrative Professionalism (Passive & Redirection): Chief Deputy Munson's response was cooperative in tone but entirely passive in execution. Redirecting an independent audit to an un-contactable legal department email address—while simultaneously suggesting data searchers check with federal or state bodies—constitutes administrative stone-throwing rather than proper records custodianship.
Stall Tactics & Firewall Vulnerability: The use of a Barracuda firewall to block secure external transparency communications functions as an effective stalling tactic, whether caused by intentional manipulation or systemic constraints. In contrast, the County Counsel's decision to bypass this digital barrier demonstrates a strong commitment to public openness and Sunshine Law compliance. Furthermore, Ms. Boyer exhibited exemplary civic stewardship by electing to waive all initial public record fees.

July 14, 2026: Midwest Transparency Audit LLC served a formal 4-part Sunshine Law request via email to the Lafayette County Sheriff's Office, demanding executed vendor contracts, data-sharing matrices, private camera integrations, and explicit department usage policies/SOPs.
July 16, 2026 (2:26 PM): Chief Deputy Stephen Munson acknowledged receipt of the request. Rather than producing the administrative files, Chief Deputy Munson deflected the request, stating he had forwarded the inquiry to County Counsel, Dawn Boyer, who held the physical agency records. He further claimed that certain overlapping data logs or grant files might reside externally with Flock Group Inc. or the Missouri Department of Public Safety (DPS).
July 16, 2026 (8:25 PM): We attempted to reply directly to County Counsel Dawn Boyer to coordinate the electronic file transfer. The transmission was instantly rejected by the county's server.
The Firewall Blockade: Diagnostic logs confirmed that the county's Barracuda Network Email Firewall completely blocked direct secure communications from mwtransparency.audit@proton.me, issuing a hard Error 550: Permanent Failure (Blocked).
July 16, 2026 (8:33 PM): We routed the server error log back to Chief Deputy Munson, putting the Sheriff's Office on formal notice that their legal department had established an electronic blockade against public transparency communications. We requested immediate forward delivery to Ms. Boyer and noted that the mandatory three-business-day response window was set to expire the following day.
July 21, 2026 (12:00 PM): Lafayette County Counselor Dawn Boyer bypassed the county’s Barracuda firewall by utilizing an alternate Gmail account to successfully establish contact and deliver the initial response. Ms. Boyer formally walked back Chief Deputy Munson’s previous deflection, confirming that the Sheriff’s Office will search for and produce responsive operational records maintained on its behalf, regardless of whether a third party (like Flock Safety or the Department of Public Safety) also possesses a copy.
Along with this clarification, Ms. Boyer attached the initial production: the active 20-page Flock Safety Services Agreement. She further noted that no fees are presently anticipated for the fulfillment of this request. Citing the need to pull records from multiple locations and systems as reasonable cause for delay, the County Counselor established a firm, statutory rolling production schedule: July 31, 2026 deadline for the second batch of electronic records and an August 10, 2026 deadline for the final production and/or specific statutory closures.

The Findings (Batch 1)

The initial production consists of the primary 20-page Services Agreement between Lafayette County and Flock Group Inc. Key details include the following.
Hardware: The deployment of 10 Flock Safety Falcon ALPR cameras.
Financial Commitment: A total contract amount of $54,700.00 for an initial 24-month subscription term.
Execution: The agreement was signed by the Sheriff of Lafayette County on March 13, 2023.

Email w/ Error

Flock Contract

Boyer Response

Status: Lafayette County is officially on the clock to produce the remaining operational records. We are currently awaiting the delivery of their internal Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and the Data-Sharing Inter-Agency Agreements, which will detail exactly which external agencies are feeding into, or pulling from, Lafayette County's surveillance grid. The next batch of records is legally due by July 31, 2026.

Redaction Note: Unlike recent productions from other local municipalities, the Lafayette County Sheriff's Office effectively sanitized this contract prior to release. The document does not expose live vendor payment routing data (ACH/SWIFT), nor does it compromise the physical ALPR network by exposing active camera serial numbers. As such, Midwest Transparency Audit is publishing this document 100% unredacted.