Pueblo council delays license plate reader vote

28 August 2026.

The Pueblo City Council postponed a vote on a license plate reader contract during its August 28, 2026 meeting. The delay was queued for review by News Watch, with the original reporting available through the Pueblo Chieftain. The specific reasons for the postponement and the details of the proposed contract remain to be verified. Council members did not set a new date for the vote at that time. This contract would deploy automatic license plate readers, which capture vehicle registration data as cameras scan passing cars. Such systems have become increasingly common in municipal law enforcement toolkits, though they raise questions about data retention, privacy practices, and cost. Readers in other jurisdictions have documented oversight procedures, data-sharing agreements, and accountability measures alongside deployment. Pueblo residents interested in the specifics of this contract—including the vendor, estimated costs, data storage policies, and planned oversight—should monitor the council’s upcoming agenda or request the contract documents directly from city government. Similar votes in other Colorado communities have produced public records that outline these operational details.

Reason for Delay

• Lack of formal policy and guardrails: Council members refused to approve funding until written rules are established governing data retention, sharing protocols, and public access.
• Surveillance and privacy concerns: Council members (led by Sarah Martinez and Vicente Martinez Ortega, with Council President Heather Graham) pushed back over unresolved civil liberty questions.
• Data access and retention sticking points: Specific concerns included how long vehicle location data would be stored (such as proposed multi-year retention periods), whether outside or federal agencies (like immigration authorities) could access the network, and the risk of tracking residents visiting sensitive locations like medical clinics or protests.

Date of Rescheduled Vote

• June 10 for the $805,000 ARPA-funded contract delay (giving staff and police time to draft formal policy guidelines).
• (Note: An earlier 100-camera contract iteration totaling $1.2 million was previously postponed to April 22 for public input and policy revisions).

Read the original reporting: Pueblo Chieftain.