Madison County is the starkest process story in WNC, worse than Asheville’s.
Timeline
- By March 2026: 15 Flock cameras in use countywide, with no commission vote and no public discussion. Sheriff Buddy Harwood’s office announced the deployment via the sheriff’s Facebook page. (Madison for Privacy · DeFlockILM tracker · Getting Flock Out)
- March 10, 2026: first organized public comment. Madison for Privacy brought Fourth Amendment objections to the commissioners meeting; the comments are on tape (Madison County Government on YouTube).
- June 9, 2026: “You will not speak on Flock tonight.” Chairman Michael Garrison refused to let dozens of objecting residents speak individually (allowing one seven-minute spokesperson) and argued the board has no oversight of the Sheriff’s technology purchases; the story went national via 404 Media. (Oversight Theater)
- August 2026: national week of action. “Popsicles for Privacy,” organized by shepherd Mary Gibson with Madison for Privacy. (Atlanta Press Collective)
- November 2026: Sheriff Harwood on the ballot (vs. Robin Lyles, R); the deployment-without-process and the records refusals are campaign questions nobody has put to either candidate on record.
Links of note
- 404 Media: the national story on the June 9 meeting
- Madison for Privacy: the local opposition group (madisonforprivacy@proton.me)
- DeFlockILM tracker: NC Flock camera tracking data
- Madison County Government on YouTube: official meeting video, March 10 comments on tape
- Atlanta Press Collective: week-of-action coverage
What happened
The numbers, from published audit logs: 1,200+ nationwide-database searches in 60 days; 3,302 searches across 33 offense categories in five months, in a county of about 20,000 people. (Madison for Privacy · DeFlockILM tracker)
And the records blackout: the sheriff’s office has refused the bulk of public records requests (contract, expenditures, audits, policies), which opponents say violates NC public records law. The contract’s dollar value is unknown because the county won’t release it.
Who’s fighting
Madison for Privacy (madisonforprivacy@proton.me): records requests, public-comment organizing (March 10 and June 9, 2026 meetings), Fourth Amendment framing, coordination with Mountain Indivisible.
The leverage
- The November election: see the timeline; neither candidate has been put on record.
- The budget is the vote the commission never took: the cameras ride the Sheriff’s general appropriation, renewed each June. Garrison says the board has no oversight of the sheriff’s purchases, but the board approves the budget they’re paid from.
- The commission meets the 2nd Tuesday, 6:45 PM public comment (video: Madison County Government on YouTube). Commissioners: boc@madisoncountync.gov.
Watch items
- Whether the county’s paper of record (News-Record & Sentinel) ever covers the fight; it hasn’t yet, a notable silence.
- Marshall, Mars Hill, and Hot Springs each have mapped Flock cameras (likely the county’s); none of the three town boards publishes meeting video at all.
Related: WNC and NC · The Check-In Meetings (Asheville’s version of process avoidance) · Getting Flock Out