July 27, 2026
Ohio’s Flock story runs through its institutions: the state’s biggest university just signed its third contract, its biggest city extended under protest, and a public university walked away because students asked it to.
Columbus and Cleveland hold, loudly
Columbus renewed amid an audit that found thousands of possibly immigration-related searches by outside departments, and the council holds a public hearing on the cameras in August. Cleveland passed a 6-month extension in July after months of debate, with new transparency terms attached; the council journal still names no individual votes for File 683-2026, so the record’s roll stays honestly unnamed. Toledo shows what a complete record looks like: a 12-member named roll, 8 to 4, from the council journal.
The campus divide
Ohio State began its third Flock contract July 1: 2 years, $378,000, a 20 percent annual increase the university attributes to per-camera pricing, on a 63-camera network that arrived as a free 2021 pilot. Case Western runs LPR-only through 2027 and says it shares with named local agencies on active case numbers. Kent State went the other way: it ended its trial in spring 2026 after community feedback, writing that the cameras made some students feel less secure. The University of Akron holds only an account to view city cameras, so no campus contract exists to track. Dayton sits Suspended, and Akron rounds out a state where every record type appears.
No statute here either
Like Texas, Ohio has no ALPR statute, so the rules live in contracts and council votes. The August Columbus hearing is the next date that could change the pattern; the decision calendar carries it when the city posts one. The Ohio hub computes the live picture.
The audit that changed the argument
Columbus moved from a policy debate to a records debate after an audit counted more than 15,000 searches of its data flagged as possibly immigration-related. Mayor Andrew Ginther ordered police to stop statewide sharing on July 11, 2026, and the council set a public hearing for August 10. Ordinance 3181-2024 had authorized the original contract 8 to 0 in December 2024, with 228,000 dollars from a state grant and competitive bidding waived.
Cleveland chose a middle path
Cleveland was asked to renew for a year at 250,000 dollars and instead approved 6 months at 125,000 dollars, 9 to 6, while the city prepares a search for a different vendor. The council also amended the ordinance to raise penalties if anyone outside the city police department accesses the data. 6 no votes are named on the record; the 9 yes votes wait on a readable copy of the City Record.
What Ohio shows that other states do not
Ohio’s decisions turned on data governance rather than on cameras. Dayton shut down all 37 of its cameras in May 2026 after leaders learned police use fell outside commission-approved guidelines, then covered the units when residents reported them still recording. Toledo sits in the same state file with its own renewal history. In each case the trigger was who could search the data and under what rule, which is the first question the contract guide tells readers to ask.
Find your city. The tracker lists every documented Flock contract, the vote that approved it, and the renewal date. Alerts email you before the next decision.