Royston locks in five-year body-camera contract, adding recurring budget cost

Royston City Council unanimously approved a five-year renewal with Axon Enterprises for the Police Department’s body-worn cameras in March 2025, committing the city to cameras, data storage, warranty and support from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2030. The meeting minutes record a 6-0 vote and list an annual fee of $12,517.64.

The action keeps a tool used to record police encounters and manage related video evidence under contract, while creating a recurring expense that must be carried in city budgets over the agreement’s life. For residents, the key stakes are both continuity of the camera system and how the yearly cost is funded as other municipal priorities compete for budget dollars.

Council first had the matter before it as a proposal in its March 2025 agenda, which called for consideration of a five-year Axon contract renewal for police body-worn cameras. The later minutes show the proposal became an approved agreement after a motion and second received unanimous support, setting the contract period to begin July 1 rather than merely leaving the renewal under discussion. Neither document states the meeting day within March.

City Council’s recorded 6-0 vote placed all six voting members behind the renewal. Axon Enterprises is the vendor named in the agreement, which covers more than the cameras themselves: the approved terms also include data storage, warranty and support. The agenda identifies the matter as a Police Department body-camera renewal, but the records do not include comments from police officials, Axon or residents explaining their views of the contract.

The council’s approval is completed and documented; the earlier agenda item was only a proposal. The records establish the planned July 2025-to-June 2030 term and say the $12,517.64 annual fee is to be included in the annual budget. They do not establish whether Axon delivered equipment, when officers began using any cameras, whether the city has made payments, or whether the agreement has since been amended.

The next practical public checkpoint is Royston’s annual budget process, where residents can look for the listed yearly camera-system expense during the remaining contract term. Still unresolved in the public record are any future budget changes, amendments to the Axon agreement and a later official account of the system’s implementation or completion.