The Livingston Parish Council voted on an ordinance seeking to prohibit surveillance cameras in parish-owned right-of-ways and discussed other agenda items at their regular meeting on August 27, 2026.
Flock Camera Ordinance Sent Back
The most anticipated item for this council meeting was Ordinance 26-20 which sought to prohibit private security and surveillance cameras on Parish maintained rights-of-way.
Garry Talbert, owner of Frog’s at Magnolia Beach, was the only citizen to speak at the meeting and he was opposed to the ordinance.
Talbert’s defense revolved around claims that “most parish right-of-ways are not owned by the parish, they’re owned by individuals" and “the only person that should be concerned about a license plate reader is an individual that’s breaking the law.”
“You can’t tell me what I can do on my property, but you’re gonna tell me because a parish has a right-of-way to my property that I can’t do something?” Talbert asked the council.
“Before we sit there and talk about stomping on somebody’s rights because we’re reading their license plate, you’re not entitled to privacy in a public place,” Talbert concluded. “We’re already being tracked, big brother is already there.”
Councilman Ryan Chavers, who introduced the ordinance, noted that he has had several conversations with Home Owner Associations, property owners, and the Sheriff about these surveillance cameras.
“No one is banning anyone from having a camera,” Chavers emphasized. “All we’re saying in this ordinance is don’t put it in the parish right-of-way.”
Additionally, Chavers added that this ordinance will not be retroactive and will simply affect any new subdivision developments. “If there is a camera that is in a parish right-of-way that we believe, based on documents, that it’s owned by the individual, then the camera stays,” Chavers added.
However, Chavers added his concern that, without this ordinance, “if you live on a parish road, who’s to say that a complete stranger can’t put a camera in the parish right-of-way and monitor your house, your kid’s house, your sister’s house? To me, it’s just a huge invasion of privacy.”
Councilwoman Erin Sandefur mirrored Chaver’s concerns, adding her own worries regarding the ability of hackers to take over these cameras and the ways they may be used by deviants to access or monitor vulnerable individuals.
“Unfortunately, there are some pretty sick people that misuse these cameras, even with the account holders of these cameras across the nation, that’s a problem,” Councilwoman Sandefur noted. “What happens if… somebody’s child, wife, whatever was harmed by some sex deviant criminal [utilizing these cameras]?”
“What about personal privacy?” Sandefur asked. “I just got back from a conference where AI was a very big deal… and I’m a lot fearful of what I heard… So where do we draw the line with privacy?”
"Look, they are AI cameras,” Chavers agreed, “AI is developing and moving so quickly… I just think that we need to regulate them within our parameters and what we are in control of and that would be the parish right-of-ways.”
“Where are we going to be in five years? Where are we gonna be in 10 years?” Councilman Chavers asked. “Is everything gonna be monitored, is everyone gonna be watched? Are we gonna get to a point to where they’re at every intersection, every median, every right-of-way, every yard, every house? What point are we gonna… stand up and say enough is enough?”
Councilman Dean Coates added that he is “not totally against camera systems… they do help solve crimes, however our constitution does prohibit invasion of privacy.”
"We need to make sure that, before we allow it to get out of control, we put some constraints on it,” Councilman Coates concluded.
Ultimately, a motion was made to adopt the ordinance as written and then send it back to the ordinance committee for further discussion and language clarification. However, Councilman John Wascom made an alternate motion to send the ordinance back to the committee and vote on it at a future meeting after it has been revised once more. Wascom’s motion passed with only Councilmembers Chavers, Sandefur, and Coates against it.
Other Agenda Items
Senator Valerie Hodges made an appearance at the council meeting to discuss an added agenda item regarding a resolution to get $230,000 in funding for radios for law enforcement and firefighters.
“[Communication] literally can be the difference between life and death,” Hodges told the council. “So it was an honor for me to be able to fight for that money and get that money for our first responders and firemen.”
The council also acknowledged the New Teachers of the Year for 2025/2026.
Bridget Wallace, who was the only new teacher of the year in attendance, received her certificate of acknowledgement from the council that night while the council noted they plan to send out the rest of the certificates to the other teachers soon.
“For all the teachers that serve in Livingston Parish, thank you. It’s a thankless job,” Councilman Chavers added.
The council then unanimously approved to enter into Cooperative Endeavour Agreements (CEAs) with the Louisiana Department of Treasury and the State of Louisiana to administer:
The council concluded their meeting by unanimously approving to move their meeting dates for the months of November and December 2026 to the first and third week of the month in preparation for upcoming holidays.
