The Fine Print: Houston
What they put in the agenda
Every agenda the site reads, from Commissioners Court and City Council to the port, the transit authority, the college districts and the school boards, is checked item by item. Anything that adds a rule, a fee, debt, surveillance or land control, or that happens behind closed doors, is logged here with the agenda's own words. Anything that cuts or repeals one is logged too, as a rollback.
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License agreement to install and operate ALPR cameras on city property
City Council will discuss and take possible action on a license agreement to install and operate automatic license plate reader (ALPR) cameras on city property and rights-of-way. This enables license plate tracking and recognition technology on public city infrastructure.
Oct 21, 2026 agenda, item 9.4: the agenda's words
Discussion and possible action related to the license agreement to install and operate ALPR cameras on, in, or over City Property and Rights-of - Way
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Districtwide Intruder Detection Audit Report discussion in closed session
The board will discuss findings from a districtwide intruder detection audit report in closed executive session. This involves security surveillance systems at district facilities.
Oct 20, 2026 agenda, item 12.5: the agenda's words
Discussion of Districtwide Intruder Detection Audit Report Findings. TEX. GOV’T CODE § § 551.076, 551.089.(Dr. Tangela Hughes-Beston, Interim Deputy Superintendent of Human Resources and Professional Learning) Board Goal #2 Safe & Secure Alief: Alief ISD will maintain a safe and orderly environment.
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Report of Districtwide Intruder Detection Audit
District will report on a districtwide intruder detection audit, which involves security surveillance systems.
Oct 20, 2026 agenda, item 11.B: the agenda's words
Report of Districtwide Intruder Detection Audit
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Monthly police report includes ALPR license-plate reader data and camera system activity.
Report details September 2026 police activities including 8,634,965 total ALPR reads from fixed and mobile license-plate readers, 256 hotlist hits, and 6 vehicle recoveries via ALPR system. Data includes camera locations at Memorial City Mall and private HOA systems across multiple villages.
Oct 20, 2026 agenda, item A: the agenda's words
U pdate on A ctivities Staff recommends that the City Council r eceive the Monthly Report for September 2026. Executiv e Summary Recommended Action Memorial Villages Police Department 11981 Memorial Drive
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Approval of vendors for school safety products and services
Board approves additional vendors under RFP#2023-103-09 for school safety products and services district-wide. School safety products may include surveillance equipment such as cameras or detection systems.
Oct 20, 2026 agenda, item I: the agenda's words
Approval of Additional Vendors Related to RFP#2023-103-09 School Safety Products and Services-District Wide In accordance with Board Policy CH (LOCAL), the Board shall approve all District contracts for purchases of goods and/or services that aggregate to a value of $50,000 or higher in a fiscal year and any single item purchased at a value of $25,000 or greater before a transaction may take place. This approval is for the award of the responding vendors under RFP2023-103-09 School Safety Products and Services-District Wide. Any requests exceeding $25,000 for a single purchase or over $50,000 in the aggregate shall be taken to the Board for approval by the requesting campus/department. This is an open bidding opportunity to allow vendors to be added on a monthly, as needed basis to meet the needs of our District.
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Presentation on Flock License Plate Readers
Presentation update on Flock License Plate Reader (LPR) technology. This is a surveillance system that captures and tracks vehicle license plates.
Oct 19, 2026 agenda, item IV.1: the agenda's words
Presentation on Flock License Plate Readers(LPR). Flock Presentation update 10-15
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Approve Illegal Dumping Camera System project with $100,000 funding
Constable of Precinct 7 to implement Illegal Dumping Camera System project with commercial paper funding authorization of $100,000. This involves installation of cameras to monitor illegal dumping.
Oct 15, 2026 agenda, item 154.: the agenda's words
Request by the Constable of Precinct 7 for approval of a Final Investment Memo for the Illegal Dumping Camera System project, for an amount of $100,000 and request for approval of commercial paper funding in the amount of $100,000.
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Ordinance 2026-39 creating Citizen Data Privacy Committee for automated license plate readers
Second reading of ordinance creating a Citizen Data Privacy Committee to provide oversight of the city's automated license plate reader system. This is on the consent agenda.
Oct 13, 2026 agenda, item 6O.: the agenda's words
Consider and take action on Ordinance 2026-39 creating a Citizen Data Privacy Committee to provide oversight of the City’s automated license plate reader system - Second Reading (Mayor Long, Mayor Pro Tem Saunders and Council Member Cones) Council approved first reading, 8-0-0, on September 22, 2026, with an amendment.
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Upgrade Light Rail Vehicle closed-circuit television system
Board authorization for one-year sole source contract with Safety Vision LLC to upgrade the Light Rail Vehicle closed-circuit television system with crash-hardened memory. This expands surveillance infrastructure on METRO light rail vehicles.
Sep 30, 2026 agenda, item 15: the agenda's words
Request Board authorization for the Interim President & CEO to negotiate and execute a one (1) year sole source contract with Safety Vision LLC to upgrade the Light Rail Vehicle closed-circuit television system with crash-hardened memory
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Contract increase for video capturing and editing software and hardware
Board requests approval to increase contract for software and hardware for video capturing and editing for analytical purposes.
Sep 28, 2026 agenda, item 12.B.2: the agenda's words
Increase Contract for Software & Hardware for Video Capturing, Editing for Analytical Purposes
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Annual renewal of Placer ai contract
Placer ai is a location analytics and foot-traffic monitoring platform that tracks customer movement patterns. The city renews its annual contract for this surveillance service.
Sep 28, 2026 agenda, item 4: the agenda's words
Approval of the annual renewal of Placer ai
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Create Citizen Data Privacy Committee for Flock license plate readers
Ordinance creating a Citizen Data Privacy Committee to provide oversight of the City's Flock Safety automated license plate reader system. The City operates license plate readers with new committee oversight.
Sep 22, 2026 agenda, item 10A.: the agenda's words
Consider and take action on an ordinance creating a Citizen Data Privacy Committee to provide oversight of the City’s Flock Safety automated license plate reader system (Mayor Long, Mayor Pro Tem Saunders and Council Member Cones)
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Juvenile arrest LiveScan agreement with county probation
Agreement with Waller County Juvenile Probation Department for LiveScan fingerprint and arrest data. Enables tracking and data-sharing of juvenile arrests.
Sep 21, 2026 agenda, item 6: the agenda's words
Approval of the Juvenile Arrest LiveScan Agreement with the Waller County Juvenile Probation Department.
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Interlocal agreement with Texas DPS for conviction reporting system
Waller Municipal Court will use Texas DPS conviction reporting system under Chapter 791 of Texas Government Code. This enables data-sharing with state law enforcement databases.
Sep 21, 2026 agenda, item 5: the agenda's words
Approval of Resolution No. 2026 - 12 , an Interlocal Cooperation Agreement between the Waller Municipal Court and the Texas DPS for the use of the Texas conviction reporting system pursuant to Chapter 791 of the Texas Government Code.
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Report of Districtwide Intruder Detection Audit
District will report on audit of intruder detection systems across schools, relating to security monitoring infrastructure.
Sep 15, 2026 agenda, item 11.B: the agenda's words
Report of Districtwide Intruder Detection Audit
Deed restrictions
Houston has no zoning; deed restrictions are what keep a business out of a neighborhood, and the city's Legal Department enforces them for neighborhoods. Complaints don't go through 311: they go to drcomplaints@houstontx.gov or the city's complaint form.
- Deed restriction cases reviewed and enforced by the city: 530 in 2024-25, an estimated 550 in 2025-26, and a target of 550 for 2026-27. Nuisance lawsuits handled: 15 in 2024-25, an estimated 10 in 2025-26. [City of Houston FY2027 budget, Legal Department]
- The city's list of reported deed restriction violations has not been updated since Oct. 20, 2015. [data.houstontx.gov]
Code enforcement
- 40% of the City of Houston's Neighborhoods code citations and 36% of Public Works citations were dismissed; the top reasons were "Nolle Prosequi" (the city dropped it), "Officer Not Present" and "Insufficient Evidence." Inspectors made 95,688 residential inspections from Jan. 1, 2024. [KPRC, Nov. 21, 2025]
- Code enforcement inspectors from Neighborhoods and Public Works have been merged into one Community Code Enforcement division in Houston Public Works. Targets for 2026-27: 13,500 weeded-lot cuts, 87% voluntary compliance, 325 demolitions. [City of Houston FY2027 budget, Neighborhoods]
- The Municipal Courts do not publish code citations and how each ended (fined, dismissed, deferred), and the city's code violation dataset was last updated in 2023.
Code and nuisance complaints to Houston 311, by type, and the average days each took to close, from the city's 311 extract.
| Case type | Cases | Closed | Average days to close |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parking Violation | 1,175 | 643 | 6.3 |
| Traffic Signal Maintenance | 1,162 | 882 | 1.2 |
| Container Replacement | 984 | 945 | 1.4 |
| Weeds/Trash/Stagnant Water on Property | 950 | 88 | 5 |
| Trash Dumping or Illegal Dumpsite | 562 | 179 | 4.8 |
| Traffic Signs | 509 | 367 | 4 |
| New Resident Container | 494 | 471 | 1.3 |
| Building Code Violation | 403 | 337 | 2 |
| Container Repair | 340 | 311 | 1.3 |
| Heavy Trash Code Violation | 335 | 119 | 5.4 |
| Health Code | 261 | 25 | 5.7 |
| Junk Motor Vehicle - Private Property | 163 | 34 | 5.1 |
| Bandit Sign - Right of Way | 157 | 148 | 1.8 |
| Traffic Signals | 104 | 54 | 4.9 |
| Dangerous Buildings | 54 | 12 | 3.9 |
| MultiFamily Habitability Violation | 49 | 28 | 1.8 |
| Fire Code Complaint | 49 | 40 | 2.6 |
| Occupancy Violation | 38 | 36 | 2.4 |
| Container Placement | 25 | 3 | 4 |
| Graffiti on Private/Commercial Property | 12 | 4 | 4.5 |
| Drainage System Violation | 11 | 5 | 4.6 |
| Donation Box Violation | 8 | 6 | 2.1 |
| Sign Code Violation | 7 | 5 | 4.5 |
| Malfunctioning Railroad Signal | 4 | 0 | |
| Graffiti - ATT Telephone Equipment | 4 | 0 |
By council district: A 707 (2.5 days) · B 978 (2 days) · C 1,066 (3.1 days) · D 1,118 (2.6 days) · E 370 (2.2 days) · F 337 (3 days) · G 512 (2 days) · H 1,037 (2.7 days) · I 822 (2.7 days) · J 328 (3.1 days) · K 557 (4.1 days) ·
Ghosts in the machine
These cities pass ordinances, set tax rates and sign contracts, and none of it appears here: their agendas could not be read by machine in the last 90 days (scanned images, script-only pages, or no posted agendas). Unseen is not clean.
- 9,613 residents · Jacinto City (0 agendas read, 0 new items; newest agenda posted is for May 28, 2026)
- 4,385 residents · City of Hunters Creek Village Its website does not answer this site's public-records reader, and has since Oct 23, 2026. Its meeting agendas are public records the city must post under the Texas Open Meetings Act; nothing it approves can be shown here until it lets them be read.
- 3,704 residents · City of Taylor Lake Village Its website answers "forbidden" to this site's public-records reader, and has since Oct 23, 2026. Its meeting agendas are public records the city must post under the Texas Open Meetings Act; nothing it approves can be shown here until it lets them be read.
- 3,128 residents · City of Piney Point Village (0 agendas read, 0 new items)
- 816 residents · City of Hilshire Village (0 agendas read, 0 new items)
Scorecard, last 12 months
Points: New rules 3 · Money 4 · Surveillance 4 · Land control 3 · Strings attached 2 · Secrecy 2 · Rollback −3 · the same weights The Fine Print uses everywhere. The Fuckery Meter adds tax rates, consent agendas, closed sessions, missing notice and withheld records.