If you run a cannabis dispensary in Oregon, your video surveillance system is part of your license, not just part of your security. The Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC) uses your cameras to confirm you’re following the rules, investigate complaints, and, if needed, build a case for sanctions.
I’m Stephen Arndt, President of Cannabis Technology Partners, and I’ve seen two very different kinds of Oregon operators:
- Those
who treat cameras as a one-time line item.
- Those
who treat surveillance as part of their compliance strategy.
Only one of those groups sleeps well during an OLCC inspection.
This guide breaks down what the Oregon rules really say and how to translate them into a practical camera layout for dispensaries—so you don’t end up with a Category III violation over a blind spot you didn’t know you had.
What OLCC Actually Requires (in Plain English)
Important note on Oregon rules
OLCC security and video surveillance requirements are updated over time. This article is meant to help you think through camera strategy—it isn’t legal advice or a substitute for the rules themselves. Always confirm the latest regulations directly from the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission and review our live Cannabis Security Compliance by State overview before making final decisions.
Oregon’s surveillance rules live in four main sections of OAR Division 25:
- OAR
845-025-1430 – Video Surveillance Equipment
- OAR
845-025-1440 – Required Camera Coverage and Camera Placement
- OAR
845-025-1450 – Video Recording Requirements for Licensed Facilities
- OAR
845-025-1460 – Location and Maintenance of Surveillance Equipment
Here’s what that boils down to for a retail store.
1. Equipment & System Basics (1430)
Your dispensary must have a fully operational video surveillance system that includes:
- Digital
or network video recorders (NVR/DVR)
- Cameras
that meet the recording standards in 1450
- Monitors
and archiving devices
- At
least one monitor on site capable of viewing video
- A failure
notification system that alerts an authorized rep within one hour if
the system goes down
-
Battery
backup sufficient to record for at least one hour during a power
outage
All non-mounted surveillance equipment and recordings must be stored in a locked, secure area (that ties into 1460).
2. Where You Must Have Cameras (1440)
OAR 845-025-1440 is the “where” rule. For a licensed premises, OLCC expects camera coverage of:
- All points
of ingress and egress to and from the premises
- All limited
access areas
- All consumer
sales areas (your sales floor)
- All
doors into or out of limited access areas
- The surveillance
room or area
- Any
other area OLCC believes is a public safety risk
- All
places where marijuana waste is stored, destroyed, or rendered unusable
For a dispensary, this effectively means: if cannabis, cash, or waste is there—or you get in or out through there—OLCC expects to see it on camera.
3. How the Cameras Must Record (1450)
This is the heart of Oregon’s cannabis video standard. For all required areas, a licensee must have cameras that:
- Continuously
record 24 hours a day
- Record
at a minimum resolution of 1280×720 (720p)
- Record
at 10 frames per second (fps) or better
- Can
record in all lighting conditions, including in the absence of
visible light
- Embed
an accurate date/time stamp without obscuring what’s happening
- Keep at
least 90 calendar days of surveillance recordings on-site (for any
license issued or renewed after August 31, 2016)
OLCC also ties surveillance failures directly to violation categories:
- Maintaining
less than 90 days but more than 30 days of footage can be treated
as a Category III violation.
- Failing
to have recordings during suspected diversion periods can escalate into Category
I territory, which is where license revocation lives.
4. Where the Surveillance Gear Lives (1460)
The surveillance room or area must:
- Be
located in a limited access area
- Be locked
and secure
- Restrict
access to the licensee, their reps, and authorized personnel only
And you must be able to demonstrate, on demand, that you can pull and export recordings for OLCC.
Designing an OLCC-Ready Dispensary Camera Layout
Even though the rules apply to all license types, let’s zoom in on retailers.
From what I’ve seen in Oregon, a typical, reasonably sized dispensary ends up with 15–25 cameras once you truly cover every required area:
- Entry,
lobby, and waiting
- Sales
floor and POS
- Inventory
and storage
- Cash
room or safe
- Back-of-house
hallways and doors
- Waste
and destruction area
- Surveillance
room door
You don’t have to submit your camera count in the rule text—but you do have to show OLCC a premises map that includes all camera locations with unique identifiers.
Floor Plan Concepts That Work in Oregon
From both OLCC guidance and industry best practices, a few design patterns keep you out of trouble:
- Put vaults
and safes away from exterior walls.
- Keep public
restrooms near the front, not next to storage or back-of-house.
- Separate
public and limited access physically: secure doors, hallways, and
controlled transitions.
- Use overlapping
camera angles in any area where cannabis or cash is present.
Think of it as concentric rings:
-
Perimeter
– doors, parking, exterior walls
-
Public
interior – lobby, waiting, sales floor
-
Limited
access – inventory, back hallways, staff areas
-
Core
risk zones – vault, cash room, waste area, surveillance room
Your camera plan should tighten as you move toward the center.
Oregon Dispensary: Room-by-Room Camera Strategy
Here’s how I’d think about placement if we’re designing an Oregon retail shop from scratch.
Entrance, Lobby, and Check-In
Regulatory hook: ingress/egress + consumer sales areas.
-
Door
cam: Inside the main entrance, angled to capture faces and bodies as
people come through.
-
Reception
cam: Over or behind the check-in desk, documenting ID verification
and check-in steps.
-
Lobby
cam: Wide-angle covering seating, the path to the sales floor, and
secondary doors.
This is where OLCC will often ask you to pull footage first—especially if there’s a complaint about sales to a minor or loitering.
Sales Floor / Consumer Sales Area
Regulatory hook: consumer sales area and any place where marijuana products are visible or handled.
-
POS
cameras: One dedicated camera per register, capturing:
- Cash
drawer
- Budtender’s
hands
- Customer’s
face and hands
- Product
transfer
-
Overhead
floor cams: Additional fixed cameras that show the entire sales
floor—cases, displays, and lines.
If OLCC can’t tell what’s happening at the register—or can’t see cannabis moving from display to customer—that’s a problem.
Inventory & Storage (Limited Access)
Regulatory hook: limited access areas and areas where marijuana items are present.
-
Door
coverage: Camera aimed at the inventory room door, clearly capturing
faces.
-
Overhead
coverage: Two or more cameras covering all shelving and storage racks
with overlapping fields of view.
-
Workstation
coverage: Clear view of scales, packaging tables, and any spot where
product is broken down, weighed, or labeled.
This is also where many internal-theft investigations start—footage here has to be crystal clear.
Cash Room and Safe
While “cash room” isn’t named directly, OLCC expects comprehensive coverage for high-risk areas and inside the premises, and these rooms often sit inside limited access.
-
Door
cam: Inside the door, capturing anyone entering or exiting.
-
Counting
cam: Over the main cash table, angled to show counting, bundling, and
bagging.
-
Safe
cam: Camera directly facing the safe or vault door, capturing who
opens it and what’s removed.
In a dispute over missing cash, OLCC, your insurer, and your own accounting team will all want to see this footage.
Waste Storage & Destruction
Regulatory hook: all areas where marijuana waste is stored, destroyed, or rendered unusable.
-
Waste
storage cam: Covers locked bins, cages, or waste drums.
-
Destruction
cam: Clearly records the rendering process (grinding, mixing, etc.) so
OLCC can verify product is unusable.
This is one of the most overlooked camera locations I see—and an easy place for diversion if it’s not watched.
Back-of-House Hallways and Doors
Regulatory hook: ingress/egress and limited access transitions.
- Cameras
covering:
- Staff
entrance
- Hallways
connecting sales, inventory, cash room, and the surveillance area
- Any
door into or out of a limited access area
Think of these as the connective tissue—if someone is moving cannabis or cash, they’ll appear here.
Surveillance Room Door
Regulatory hook: location & maintenance of surveillance equipment.
- Camera
on the exterior of the surveillance room door.
- Room
itself locked and classified as a limited access area.
You don’t necessarily record inside the room, but OLCC wants to know who goes in and out where the NVR and camera controls live.
The OLCC Violation Traps We See Most Often
From OLCC rule text, bulletins, and settlement summaries, a few patterns keep showing up:
1. Retention Below 90 Days
- NVR
configured to keep 60 or 75 days to “save space.”
- Older
systems set up before August 2016 never upgraded.
Under 845-025-1450, less than 90 days of recordings can be treated as a violation on its own—and if OLCC is investigating suspected diversion during the missing period, things escalate quickly.
2. Missing or Weak Coverage in Required Areas
- No
camera on the back door or employee entrance.
- Inventory
shelves or a corner of the sales floor not visible due to poor angles.
- Waste
handling area not on camera.
Rule 1440 lets OLCC treat any area where cannabis or waste is present—and any ingress/egress—as required coverage. If they can’t see it, they can cite it.
3. System Failures Without Notification
- Cameras
down or NVR offline for several days.
- No failure
notification system, or alerts going to an unmonitored email.
1430 requires a system that notifies an authorized representative within one hour of a prolonged failure. If an inspector walks in during an outage you didn’t catch or report, you’re in violation.
4. Poor Video Quality or Lighting
- Cameras
technically 720p, but mounted too high or aimed poorly.
- Bright
windows behind subjects, making faces silhouettes.
- Dark
inventory rooms where cameras can’t capture detail.
OLCC doesn’t just want a recording—they want a recording where activity and individuals are clearly identifiable.
5. Insecure Surveillance Room
- Surveillance
gear stored in an unlocked office.
- Multiple
employees with access who don’t need it.
Under 1460, the surveillance room/area must be in a limited access area and properly secured; failure here can be part of a broader pattern of security violations.
What That Means for Sanctions
Under OLCC’s sanction schedule, a Category III violation (where many surveillance problems live) typically starts around a 10-day license suspension or a civil penalty in the low-thousands of dollars for a first offense. Repeat violations escalate quickly, and if OLCC ties surveillance failures to diversion or serious public safety concerns, you can end up in Category II or Category I territory.
In other words, it’s far cheaper to get the system right than to settle a violation.
How Cannabis Technology Partners Helps Oregon Dispensaries
You shouldn’t have to be a walking OAR reference to run a good shop.
At Cannabis Technology Partners, we work with Oregon retailers to:
-
Review
your current camera map against OAR 845-025-1430, 1440, 1450, and
1460.
- Design
or refine your layout so every required area is clearly covered.
- Size
storage and recording settings to meet the 720p / 10 fps / 90-day
standard with buffer.
- Lock
down and document your surveillance room and access controls.
- Set
up health monitoring and failure alerts so you catch problems
before OLCC does.
- Integrate
cameras with your POS and access control systems to turn
surveillance into a real compliance and investigation tool.
Many Thanks to Stephen Arndt of Cannabis Technology Partners.
Cannabis Technology Partners is offering a quick surveillance health check for your Oregon dispensary or if you’re planning a new build-out and want to get it right the first time—we can walk your floor plan room by room and make sure your cameras work for both security and compliance. Contact them at: 360-450-3687 or email them at: info＠cannabistechnologypartners.com
