Flock camera
Flock Safety

CLEARWATER COUNTY, IDAHO. – Nearly a month after announcing it would not renew its contract with Flock Safety, the Clearwater County Sheriff’s Office announced it was facing disagreements with Flock over the required length of the contract.

The debate over the contract could determine whether the office is bound to Flock for thirteen more months, rather than one more month.

The Clearwater County Sheriff’s Office announced in July that it did not intend to renew the contract with Flock and that it would expire on September 22, 2026.

At the time, Clearwater County Sheriff John Smith said the camera system did not demonstrate enough operational value to justify the cost. Smith said the funds would be redirected towards equipment to support core law enforcement functions instead.

Since that announcement, the office has been in communication with Flock Safety about whether or not the original 2-year contract allowed for a cancellation only one year in, according to a Saturday update from the office.

The office said its previous sheriff, Sheriff Chris Goetz, had held an understanding that “at the halfway point of the contract, there would be an opportunity to terminate the agreement and have the equipment removed.”

Flock Safety disputing that understanding, the office said, and said it considered the contract binding and unable to cancel.

The office said it looked for further clarity. 

“Because of the importance of this matter to Clearwater County and its citizens, the Sheriff’s Office referred the issue to the Clearwater County Prosecutor for review,” the office wrote in its update.

In a letter from the County Prosecutor’s office, County Prosecuting Attorney E. Clayne Tyler said that while the “bare language” of the contract was for a two-year term rather than a one year term, state-laws about automatic contract extensions made the contract “void and unenforceable.”

“Accordingly, my legal opinion is that the FLOCK agreement is void to the extent that it binds the County to the second installment provided for in the agreement. Failure to make payment is not a breach of contract in that the contract itself is unenforceable,” Tyler wrote.

Tyler also said another issue existed: “Sheriff Goetz executed this agreement. No elected official has authority to bind the county to a debt other than the Board of County Commissioners.”

The sheriff’s office said the County Prosecutor indicated he was prepared to defend his opinions in court if necessary. 

The update from the sheriff’s office did not include a further response from Flock regarding the alleged issues in the contract.

“Our responsibility is to look out for the best interests of the citizens of Clearwater County,” Sheriff John Smith wrote in the update. “We are taking this matter seriously and are working to ensure that any agreement involving our office is legally sound and consistent with the interests and rights of the people we serve.”

Clearwater County is not the only county in the region to reevaluate its two-year contracts with Flock Safety amidst public backlash. The Whitman County Sheriff’s Office announced on Friday that it directed its cameras to be disabled, despite being several months into a two-year contract.

“Public trust is essential to our ability to serve Whitman County. When concerns about a tool that is not necessary to our core operations become a distraction from that trust, it is appropriate to listen and reassess the overall value.  At this time, the three cameras will remain disabled,” the Whitman County Sheriff’s Office wrote.

The Whitman County Sheriff’s Office said its contract with Flock Safety was paid for using grant funding. 

Flock Safety responded on Thursday to nation-wide backlash from documented abuses of its system by some members of its law enforcement, by announcing changes to its platform in an attempt to quell privacy concerns.