This Ordinance shall be known as the FREE Act (Freedom from Random Electronic Exposure Act).
Its purpose is to protect privacy, civil liberties, and constitutional rights while preventing mass surveillance.
Official Board of Supervisors Document
I hereby certify that this resolution/ordinance is a true and correct copy of a resolution/ordinance adopted by the Trempealeau County Board of Supervisors on: ___________
| Dist. | Supervisor | Y | N | AB | ABS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Turner | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 2 | Parrish | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 3 | R Todd | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 4 | Severson | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 5 | A. Todd | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 6 | Anderson | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 7 | Leonard | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 8 | Syverson | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 9 | Whalen | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 10 | Aasen | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 11 | Truog | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 12 | Baecker | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 13 | Lyon | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 14 | Skoug | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 15 | Larson | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 16 | Husby | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| 17 | Johnson | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| TOTALS | ___ | ___ | ___ | ___ | |
AN ORDINANCE RESTRICTING THE ACQUISITION, ACCESS, USE, AND SHARING OF MASS SURVEILLANCE DATA; CLOSING DATA-SHARING LOOPHOLES; ESTABLISHING WARRANT REQUIREMENTS, DATA RETENTION LIMITS, ENFORCEMENT MECHANISMS, AND TRANSPARENCY OBLIGATIONS.
This Ordinance shall be known as the FREE Act (Freedom from Random Electronic Exposure Act).
Its purpose is to protect privacy, civil liberties, and constitutional rights while preventing mass surveillance.
Covered Surveillance System includes ALPRs, mass camera networks, facial recognition, and AI tracking.
Surveillance Data includes location, identity, and behavioral data. Indirect Acquisition includes obtaining data from external entities.
The County shall not acquire, operate, fund, or access Covered Surveillance Systems.
The County shall not access or use surveillance data obtained by external entities.
No circumvention through third parties, contractors, or other governments.
Existing Systems — Deactivation and Removal. Immediately upon passage of this Ordinance, every Covered Surveillance System owned, operated, funded, or accessed by the County, or to which the County has access through any external entity, shall be physically covered, hooded, or bagged in a manner that prevents any capture, recording, or transmission of images or data, and shall remain so covered without interruption until it is deactivated and removed as provided below.
Any Covered Surveillance System that is presently installed, operated, funded, or accessed by the County, or accessed by the County through any external entity, shall be deactivated within thirty (30) days of the effective date of this Ordinance.
County-owned equipment shall be physically removed within sixty (60) days of the effective date.
Where such equipment is owned by a third party, the County shall terminate all access, connections, and credentials within thirty (30) days.
All surveillance data in the County’s possession or control, and all such data the County is entitled to retrieve from any external entity, shall be permanently and irretrievably deleted within sixty (60) days, except data subject to a then-active warrant.
The Sheriff or applicable department head shall certify completion of deactivation, removal, and deletion to the Board in writing.
No County agency may access tracking or location data without a warrant based on probable cause.
Maximum retention is 7 days unless tied to an active investigation supported by a warrant.
Automatic deletion of data is required.
No participation in surveillance-sharing task forces without Board approval and public disclosure.
No grants, donations, or free trials involving surveillance technology. All contracts must be publicly disclosed and approved.
Municipalities using prohibited systems are ineligible for County services until compliance is restored.
Violations may result in termination, personal liability, and civil penalties of at least $5,000.
Residents have standing to bring civil action.
An annual public report shall disclose surveillance-related activities and compliance.
Requires a 2/3 vote, public hearing, and expires after 2 years.
This Ordinance shall be interpreted broadly in favor of privacy protections.
This Ordinance shall take effect upon passage and publication.