Jerome County sheriff used Flock cameras to search for wife’s vehicle, documents show

JEROME COUNTY, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — Jerome County Sheriff George Oppedyk used Flock cameras to search for his wife’s vehicle hundreds of times between July and September 2025, records show.

Oppedyk will retire on April 18 after 22 years in law enforcement, about halfway through his current four-year term.

Documents obtained by KMVT revealed the sheriff was under investigation leading up to his announcement.

Following its investigation, the Idaho Attorney General’s Office said in a February letter it did not find “sufficient evidence to prove a crime beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Flock cameras and how law enforcement uses them

Chief Deputy Gary Taylor of the Jerome County Sheriff’s Office said the Flock camera system has been operational since March 2025.

Flock cameras use a network of automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) that capture images of a vehicle’s rear license plate as it passes a given location. Twin Falls Chief of Police Matthew Hicks said the system logs that information in a database, which authorities can search for up to 30 days before it is deleted.

According to Idaho Code section 49-1432, automated license plate reader data shall not be used for any non-law enforcement purpose, including, but not limited to, personal use, political activity or surveillance outside law enforcement and traffic flow analysis purposes.

Chief Hicks said his department has used the system for the past three years.

“We’ve used this for tremendous success to solve a number of crimes, ranging from people wanted for individual crimes, stolen vehicles, all the way up to rescuing a child that had been kidnapped out of state and was being driven through our area,” Chief Hicks said.

The Twin Falls Police Department said the use of the camera system has led to the arrest of suspects such as a driver with a $1 million warrant for sexual abuse of a minor child and Skylar Meade, who escaped correctional custody in March 2024.

Lieutenant reports large number of “test” searches in Flock camera logs

A few months after the Flock cameras went live in Jerome County, someone with the sheriff’s office noticed something unusual.

“A lieutenant who is in charge of our Flock system found a discrepancy in searching that it was done for reasons that he couldn’t determine, and there was a lot of searches,” Chief Deputy Taylor said.

Chief Deputy Taylor said that in July 2025, a lieutenant alerted him to Flock camera search logs containing hundreds of searches made by Sheriff Oppedyk, labeled as “test,” and all for the same vehicle.

“Typically, the tests that we’ve run have been on our county’s vehicles to make sure that’s the only one we’re looking for, and we know what route we’re driving to make sure the cameras are picking up that plate,” Chief Deputy Taylor said.

The Jerome County Sheriff’s Office does not run tests very often, and the sheriff’s searches were for a vehicle that did not belong to the county, according to Chief Deputy Taylor.

The tests were not just for Jerome County. Chief Hicks said they also included Twin Falls.

“We cannot find any legitimate reason why one individual would run one plate numerous times for a test,” Hicks said.

Idaho Attorney General’s Office launches investigation

Following this discovery, Chief Deputy Taylor said he notified the Idaho Attorney General’s Office in line with Idaho Code section 49-1432, which requires semiannual audits of automated license plate reader data to detect and address any unauthorized or suspicious activity.

“I couldn’t report it directly to Twin at the time. I wanted to, but I was told because they had an active investigation to hold off until they were done,” Chief Deputy Taylor said.

In September 2025, the Attorney General’s Office issued a subpoena to the county for all Flock camera agreements or contracts, all policies regarding personnel use of the system, and peace officer standings and training records for 2024.

Following an investigation, the Attorney General’s Office sent a letter to the Jerome County prosecuting attorney on Feb. 11 regarding a public corruption complaint. In it, the Attorney General’s Office acknowledged that, in addition to allegations that the sheriff had misused agency equipment, it also investigated claims of falsified certification records and employee timecards.

The letter said the Flock system indicated that in “one month’s time,” the sheriff queried his wife’s license plate number approximately 152 times. His stated purpose was to assess the system’s reliability before a contract decision.

Flock camera logs obtained by KMVT show that Sheriff Oppedyk searched for the vehicle more than 700 times between early July 2025 and mid-September 2025.

When asked why the sheriff might have done all these searches, Chief Deputy Taylor said he did not know and referred questions to the sheriff.

KMVT attempted to contact Sheriff Oppedyk for comment five times by phone and six times by email. He did not respond.

No sufficient evidence to prove a crime beyond a reasonable doubt

The Attorney General’s Office concluded that criminal prosecution was not warranted.

“While the Sheriff did use the agency’s ALPR system to repeatedly query his wife’s license plate number, his stated purpose was to check the system’s reliability ahead of a contract decision,” the letter said.

Regarding the training records complaint, the letter from the Attorney General’s Office stated that “changes to attendance rosters were based on what the sheriff represented was a correct record.” Regarding the complaint about timecards, there was no proof of deliberate falsification.

In a statement to KMVT, the Attorney General’s Office said its authority is limited to investigating and prosecuting crimes and that it does not have authority over potential policy violations.

“We have no authority over policy violations, procedural deviations, or non-criminal legal violations, nor can we direct other agencies’ conduct,” the office said. “Our investigation in this case did not result in sufficient evidence to prove a crime beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Twin Falls Police Department temporarily restricts Jerome County’s Flock camera access

After the Attorney General’s Office completed its investigation, Chief Deputy Taylor formally notified Chief Hicks on Feb. 18 of the sheriff’s searches.

“Chief Deputy Taylor, to his credit, being placed in a very awkward position, immediately recognized that he had an obligation to share that information with us,” Chief Hicks said.

Chief Hicks then removed the Jerome County Sheriff’s Office’s access to the department’s Flock cameras.

“We required, before that was reinstated 48 hours later, that the sheriff was taken out of their system, that his ability to search our cameras was removed, that their policy that had not been put in place was adopted, and that their last two audits had been turned over to us and would be available in the future upon request,” Chief Hicks said.

Chief Hicks said Chief Deputy Taylor immediately implemented the changes, and Twin Falls Police then restored access to the sheriff’s office.

When asked about public concern over law enforcement use of Flock cameras, Chief Hicks and Chief Deputy Taylor addressed accountability.

“We want to highlight that this system is in place for a very valid law enforcement reason, but we also recognize our collective responsibility to make sure that this information is used properly,” Chief Hicks said.

“We reported an agency head abusing it. That should give the public some assurance that nobody is above abusing this system. It will be reported and taken care of,” Chief Deputy Taylor said.

Jerome County Commissioners comment on investigation

KMVT reached out to the Jerome County commissioners regarding the investigation.

“Our focus as commissioners is to ensure that county government operates responsibly, respects the law, and maintains the confidence of the public,” Chairman Ben Crouch wrote in a statement. “We take that responsibility seriously and will continue to support appropriate processes that reinforce those principles.”

On March 12, the Board of Commissioners said that Sheriff Oppedyk will retire on April 18 and will continue to work with the sheriff’s office through Aug. 7 as the office transitions to new long-term leadership.

By law, the Jerome County Republican Central Committee must nominate three candidates for the board of commissioners, who will then appoint one candidate to complete the remaining term.