Cannabis Dispensary Video Surveillance: How Oregon Stays on the Right Side of OLCC

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:

  1. Perimeter – doors, parking, exterior walls


  2. Public interior – lobby, waiting, sales floor


  3. Limited access – inventory, back hallways, staff areas


  4. 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