County awards bid, tables amount for new software system for sheriff’s office
- Charity Fitch
- Aug 3, 2023
- 2 min read
The Ellis County Commissioners Court awarded the bid for a new software system for a computer-aided dispatch, record management and jail management system to Motorola Solutions Inc. on Aug. 9.
The court tabled the approval of the purchase amount after Commissioner Lane Grayson said he did not want to agree to a contract that was more than $300,000 past their proposed budget of $1.5 million. Commissioners plan to renegotiate with Motorola to bring the total closer to the initial budgeted amount.
“I’m gonna stand firm that we only go out the door (with) what we’ve approved,” Grayson said. “It’s important to me that we take this firm step.”
Grayson went on to explain how approving the amount is “a big deal” to him because it will be a 10-year arrangement the county makes with the company. He asked the court to regroup and “hammer out” the details of the contract.
Commissioner Paul Perry agreed with Grayson to put off the contract until a later date and to come back with assurances from legal.
In 2021, the court approved $1.5 million to be spent on the new software, but it was an estimated amount, according to the County Judge Todd Little.
Asked why the new system is necessary, Chief Deputy Alex Zurfas said, “In a word, efficiency.”
Zurfas explained how they currently must input the same information into three different systems or databases because the systems do not communicate with one another. Sheriff Brad Norman said the system they are using places them back in the 1990s.
With the new software, all the systems will be connected, allowing them to make the best use of their team, they said.
“This thing is like a corvette; it’s going to take us into the 21st century,” Little said.
Little and Commissioner Kyle Butler were both part of the team who evaluated the different companies and decided Motorola to be the best fit.
“The risk to not doing it is it will create inefficiencies and take additional people to do what we’re going to be doing to serve the growing community,” Zurfas said.
Little said the deadline for a decision is Aug. 30.
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