By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper.
Anyone running a license plate reader camera on Sandoval County roads or property without a permit could face criminal charges under an ordinance county commissioners vote on Wednesday night.
The ordinance bans automated license plate readers, or ALPRs, on county rights-of-way and county-owned property unless the Planning and Zoning Commission grants a permit. Existing cameras would have 60 days to come down. Each day an illegal camera runs counts as a separate petty misdemeanor, and so does each download of its data, according to the ordinance.
District 2 Commissioner Jon Herr sponsors the measure, according to the agenda. The agenda summary says private companies have put up the cameras nationwide “without public oversight” and calls them “a danger to the privacy and safety of all Americans.”
The fight already runs hot next door. Rio Rancho residents have pushed back on that city’s Flock Safety cameras at governing body meetings since August.
Commissioners will also vote on a resolution from District 5 Commissioner Joshua Jones that calls on the New Mexico Department of Transportation to fix U.S. 550. It asks the department for a traffic signal at Northwest Loop Road, where left-turn crashes killed two people in August 2024 and another person in June. It also calls for median barriers, a corridor-wide safety review and a written plan within 90 days.
On the consent agenda, the county will accept $5.2 million in state capital funding, including $1.65 million for a fleet maintenance facility, $881,100 for the Peña Blanca Community Center, $700,000 for sheriff’s vehicles and $475,000 for an ambulance. Commissioners will also consider $123,274 for dust control on Old Highway 95 in Regina.
BY THE NUMBERS: U.S. 550 in Sandoval County
- 20 of the county’s 78 traffic deaths happened on U.S. 550 from 2019 to 2023, according to federal crash records cited in the resolution.
- 24 people died in 22 fatal crashes from 2019 to 2024.
- About 27,000 vehicles a day pass through the Northwest Loop Road stretch.
- 33 crashes happened at the U.S. 550 and Northwest Loop Road intersection from 2019 to 2023.
Sandoval County Board of County Commissioners
- When: 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14
- Where: Commission Chambers, 1500 Idalia Road, Building D, Bernalillo
- Watch: sandovalcountynm.gov
- Comment in person or online: sandovalcountynm.gov/commission/public-comment/
- Next meeting: 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28