FOIA reveals Flock’s plans to lobby West Virginia Legislature

By Matthew Young, BBG

According to official documents released on social media last week, Flock Safety has retained Charleston-based lobbyist group Walker & Stevens to represent the company’s interests at the West Virginia Legislature. 

Investigative reporter Kyle Vass of the ACLU WV, on Friday, posted the results of his recent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request made to the West Virginia Ethics Commission. The information received by Vass in response to that FOIA request shows that Walker & Stevens have registered Matt Walker, president of home service-provider Village Caregiving, and former deputy secretary of the West Virginia Department of Health and Family Resources, Jeremiah Samples, to lobby on Flock’s behalf.

“Flock hired Samples and Walker two weeks after we launched our ballot initiative with HCAG: Get the Flock Out of Huntington to ban third-party mass surveillance,” Vass wrote, as part of his posting. 

HCAG – otherwise known as the Huntington Community Action Group – launched their “Get the Flock Out of Huntington” campaign in response to the Huntington City Council’s recent decision to allow the city’s police department to contract with Flock Safety. Opponents of the technology argue that its usage and access policies regarding the private and sensitive information obtained by use of the system constitutes an illegal search.  

Read BBG’s previous reporting on the Huntington City Council’s controversial decision HERE.

“Everyone gets scared about how something might be used, or how it might infringe on your privacy,” Huntington Mayor Patrick Farrell told members of the City Council ahead of their July 14 Special Meeting. “But when something happens in your neighborhood – when it’s somebody that you know – you’ll turn over the entire city to make sure somebody gets brought to justice.”

 In his post, Vass further notes that Matt Walker is a frequent financial backer of Republican candidates for the State Legislature, and operates the “Primary Care PAC” Political Action Committee. Vass further notes that the Primary Care PAC has been inactive since 2024.