# 2025-01 Conway City Council Authorizes Flock Purchase (Ordinance O-25-09) On January 14, 2025, the [[Conway City Council]] passed **Ordinance O-25-09** unanimously, 8-0 — "AN ORDINANCE TO WAIVE THE COMPETITIVE BID PROCESS FOR THE PURCHASE OF LPR EQUIPMENT FROM FLOCK SAFETY AND APPROPRIATING ASSET FORFEITURE FUNDS FOR THE CONWAY POLICE DEPARTMENT." Mayor Bart Castleberry presented item E-3; Councilman Ledbetter moved; Councilwoman Mehl seconded; the roll-call passed 8-0; the ordinance was approved and attested by Mayor Castleberry and City Clerk [[Denise Hurd]]. It was recorded in the Faulkner County Circuit Clerk's official records on February 11, 2025 as Doc Num L2025018532. The ordinance waived competitive bidding on a sole-source theory, authorized the $180,000 purchase from Flock Safety, and appropriated $180,000 from the asset-forfeiture fund balance (account 250.000.4900) into the asset-forfeiture computer-equipment expense account (250-121-5930). This is the formal Council authorization that closes the corpus's longstanding [[Asset-Forfeiture Funding for Surveillance Procurement|asset-forfeiture-authorization]] question — the record Chief Harris said in December 2024 he would seek "at the first city council meeting in January" ([[2024-12 Harris Pivots to Asset Forfeiture]]). ## Sources - [[Ordinance O-25-09 — LPR Bid Waiver and Asset Forfeiture Appropriation]] — the recorded ordinance and Clerk's certificate. - [[January 14 2025 Conway City Council Meeting]] — the minutes and agenda packet documenting the item E-3 motion and 8-0 roll-call. - Both produced 2026-05-22 in the City of Conway's `FOIA-2026-125` response ([[_overview]]). ## Significance - **The Council's authorization is documented and unanimous.** Eight aldermen voted Aye; no dissent or recorded discussion of the bid waiver. The minutes carry the roll call but not the underlying deliberation. - **The authorization is post-execution.** The Flock contract was signed by Chief Harris on or about 2024-12-18 ([[2024-12 Contract Signed by Chief Harris via DocuSign]], [[Contract to Legal Thread (Dec 2024 DocuSign)]]). O-25-09 followed 27 days later. As a matter of sequencing the documents establish, the Council action ratifies an already-executed contract and reappropriates for an obligation already incurred. - **The bid waiver rests on a network-interoperability sole-source rationale.** The ordinance's second whereas: "Flock Safety is the only provider who can supply the LPR system in order to be in compliance with surrounding agencies." The rationale appeals to compatibility with the regional Flock deployment at neighboring agencies — a function of having chosen Flock — rather than to a finding of unique product capability. - **The 2025 budget did not carry the line item.** The produced [[Conway 2025 City Budget]] contains no Flock / LPR / forfeiture line under any of those keywords. The Council's action is an off-budget appropriation from the asset-forfeiture fund. - **The two payments executing this ordinance are documented in the same production.** $60,000 was paid 2025-07-09 (INV-56859, Year 1) and $120,000 was paid 2026-01-16 (INV-81961, Years 2 & 3); both checks draw on the asset-forfeiture computer-equipment account O-25-09 created the appropriation into ([[Flock Payment Records — INV-56859 and INV-81961]]).