The Pulaski County Sheriff's Office told the Quorum Court committee that a portion of its requested software and maintenance funds are for a Tyler Technologies upgrade, and other costs include Microsoft licensing and higher internet bandwidth for body-camera uploads. The committee advanced both the enforcement (department 400) and detention (department 418) budgets to the full court, after rejecting an amendment to cut $75,000 from a fuels, oil and lubricants line.

On the enforcement budget, the sheriff explained the software request is split between enforcement and detention because it covers records management, 911 integration and intersystem communications. "Tyler technology, it was approved to to update our system... the records management system, which is part of the enforcement side," the sheriff said in committee. The sheriff also told members that roughly $241,000 of the requested software/maintenance budget relates to the Tyler Technologies contract and about $62,500 relates to Microsoft licensing.

IT staff Jeff Squires described a separate increase in internet circuit costs tied to adding a new circuit for a training facility and to raising core circuit speeds from 100 megabits to 500 megabits to support more data traffic, including nightly body-camera uploads. "For every bit of that increase in speed and available bandwidth, we have to pay for that," Squires told the committee.

Committee members pressed on the sheriff's fuels, oil and lubricants line. An amendment introduced to remove a $75,000 increase in that line was moved and seconded but failed on a 3-5 vote. After the amendment failed, the main motion to forward the enforcement budget passed 6-2.

On detention, members discussed a $97,000 requested increase tied to the Aramark food contract escalator and juvenile nutrition requirements. The committee advanced the detention budget; roll call was recorded as 7 ayes and 1 present.

Why it matters

The sheriff's office budgets cover personnel, vehicles, software and operational costs that directly affect law enforcement and detention operations. The committee's rejection of the $75,000 fuel cut preserves funding the sheriff said is needed to operate a large patrol and detention fleet and to cover circulating fuel and maintenance costs.

What the sheriff provided

- Tyler Technologies portion of the enforcement software/maintenance request: $241,000 (as stated by the sheriff).
- Microsoft licensing portion: $62,500 (as stated by the sheriff).
- IT staff explanation that increased circuit speeds and a new circuit for a training facility have raised recurring internet costs to support body-camera uploads.

Committee requests and next steps

Committee members asked the sheriff for a more detailed breakdown of the fuels/lubricants expenditure; the sheriff agreed to provide more information. Both the enforcement and detention budgets were forwarded to the full court for final approval.