County Prosecutor demands cease and desist as commissioners move to bag flock cameras

A legal clash is brewing in Marshall County government after the prosecuting attorney sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Board of County Commissioners, demanding they halt plans to disable the county's Flock license plate reader cameras.

On Tuesday morning, Marshall County Prosecuting Attorney Nelson Chipman sent the letter to Commissioners Stan Klotz, Jesse Bohannon, and Adam Faulstich, with copies to County Auditor Angie Birchmeier and County Attorney Sean Surrisi. The letter demands they stop the "bagging and tagging" of six Flock automated license plate readers currently leased to the 72nd Judicial Circuit.

"I am aware of decisions made at your most recent board meeting of October 19th, 2026," Chipman wrote. "Please consider this correspondence as a demand to cease and desist from your contemplated action of 'bagging and tagging' the six Flock automated license plate readers currently under lease to me in my official capacity as Prosecuting Attorney of the 72nd Judicial Circuit."

Chipman's letter went on to sharply criticize the commissioners' approach, calling it "tyrannical" and arguing it sidesteps less intrusive alternatives.

"Despite failing to explore less intrusive measures to obtain the same result, the tyrannical method you have hastily chosen, 'bagging and tagging,' necessarily requires your agent or employee to effectually seize and disable private personal property without due process of law," Chipman wrote. "At a minimum, such action is additional evidence of your bad faith resulting in tortious interference with the contractual rights of the state judicial office I temporarily occupy and a lawful vendor — a contract of which I have repeatedly declared Marshall County government is not a party."

The prosecutor closed the letter with a warning of potential legal action should the commissioners proceed. "Should you fail to abide by this demand to cease and desist the threatened seizure of private personal property leased to the 72nd Judicial Circuit, I shall have no choice but to consider my Office's future reactive options, including self-help. I trust that will not be necessary," Chipman wrote.

The letter comes on the heels of Monday's commissioner meeting, where County Attorney Sean Surrisi said he had contacted Flock following the County Council's notice of non-renewal. Surrisi said he inquired about the ability to "bag and tag" the cameras — a motion originally made by Commissioner Faulstich earlier this month that passed on a 2-1 vote. Surrisi reported that Flock provided its recommendation for bagging the cameras.

Commissioner Faulstich asked whether the county faced any legal exposure at this point. Surrisi responded that the only potential litigation could come from the prosecutor's office. He discussed the county's relationship with Flock, noting that the commissioners are "adjacently involved" because, as the executive body of the county, they control the land the cameras sit on and have general oversight of contracts.

After further discussion, Commissioner Bohannon made a motion to instruct the Highway Department to bag the six county Flock cameras within the next 14 days. The motion passed on a 2-1 vote, with Commissioner Klotz voting no. Bohannon then made a second motion to reject any Flock claim presented for payment unless it is prorated to cover the dates of December 20th through the 31st, 2026.

The standoff between the prosecutor's office and the commissioners sets the stage for a potential legal showdown over who controls the Flock cameras and whether the county has the authority to disable them.

During Tuesday’s What’s Your Opinion Show, Commissioner Klotz said employees with the County Highway Department will not bag the county’s Flock cameras.  He said Commissioner Bohannon has ordered the material to bag the cameras and will do the job himself.