Camden County Commissioner Charged With Felonies Over Alleged Removal Of License Plate Reader

CAMDEN COUNTY, Mo. — Camden County Presiding Commissioner Ike Skelton has been charged with two felonies and a misdemeanor related to the alleged removal of a License Plate Reader (LPR) camera.

Skelton, an outspoken opponent of LPRs, is charged with the following:

-Stealing ($750 or more), Class D Felony

-Tampering with Service of Utility or Institution, Class D Felony

-Obstructing Government Operations, Class B Misdemeanor

The charges were filed by special prosecutor Nicholas Komoroski.

According to the Probable Cause Document, on Dec. 31, 2024 at around 2:29 p.m., a sergeant with the Missouri State Highway Patrol saw two men near the LPR at the intersection of Highway 54 and Ball Park Road. The Sergeant reportedly contacted the men and recognized one of them as Skelton.

The investigating officer reported he spoke with Camden County Prosecutor Richelle Grosvenor, who allegedly told the investigator that Skelton had told her he was going to take the camera down. She told the investigator she had warned Skelton he could face criminal charges if he removed the camera, according to the probable cause document.

“On January 2, 2025, I met with Skelton, who voluntarily escorted me into the Camden County Commissioners' Office. I followed Skelton to his office, where he produced the Flock Safety camera and surrendered it to me,” the investigator wrote.

Skelton is scheduled to appear in court on April 22. It’ll be a short walk for him, as the courthouse sits right next to the commissioners’ office.

County Opposition To LPRs

In January of 2024, the Camden County Commission passed a county ordinance banning the use of all automated license plate readers in the county (a 2023 ordinance had banned all static license plate readers, but the 2024 ordinance expanded that to include all automated license plate readers). In that ordinance, commissioners cited "numerous complaints" about the cameras "and the potential of unwarranted/inappropriate monitoring of its citizens [sic] freedom of movement and travel in violation of their right of privacy, unreasonable search and seizure and other constitutionally protected rights[.]”

The ordinance also stated, "Any Automated License Plate Readers currently in violation of this Ordinance shall be immediately removed. If identification of ownership is listed on any such device, the listed owner shall be notified to remove said device. Any device not removed within 30 days of notification to remove said device may be removed by Order of the Camden County Commission.”

Background

The device is owned by Flock Group, Inc. The company has had an agreement — obtained by LakeExpo — with the Missouri Department of Public Safety since March of 2022. The agreement is called a "Government Agency Study Agreement" and the state DPS signed it under what the agreement calls a "yearlong study on the efficacy of license plate reader technology." The document does not stipulate an end-date to the camera usage agreement.

The agreement stipulates that the technology "is solely to facilitate gathering evidence that could be used in a criminal investigation by the appropriate government agency and not for tracking activities that the system is not designed to capture." However, the cameras are not limited to only capturing data related to a criminal investigation.

After Skelton allegedly removed the cameras, Camden County Prosecutor Richelle Grosvenor says she was asked by the Missouri State Highway Patrol to file a request for a special prosecutor. Grosvenor released a statement on Friday, Jan. 3, saying it would be a conflict of interest to investigate the allegations against another elected official in the county, so a special prosecutor would be assigned by the court to review the Missouri State Highway Patrol's (MSHP) investigation of the incident.