Polk County Commissioners Court approved a package of capital purchases for public safety at the Aug. 2025 meeting, including a non‑proprietary generator for the county jail, a 40‑foot transport bus, and aftermarket equipment for law- enforcement vehicles.

Court documents showed a proposal for a generator system to replace the jail’s failing switchboard and to provide a single non‑proprietary system the county can maintain and service without being locked to a single vendor. The recommended purchase price quoted in the meeting was $704,398.12 (the overall authorization in the motion capped the purchase at $750,000). County staff reported the generator is currently in stock and the system is intended to meet jail-commission standards.

The court also approved purchase of a StarCraft extra-large 40-foot transport bus through the BuyBoard cooperative at a quoted price of $268,653; staff said lead time for that vehicle is 8–10 months. The court approved aftermarket equipment for sheriff and constable leased vehicles as presented; the sheriff’s aftermarket estimate was corrected in the meeting to $43,778.20 for two vehicles and other aftermarket items were approved for constables (estimated $46,397.30 for precinct 2 and 3 vehicles). Staff said approving the equipment now will allow departments to take possession of new vehicles promptly at the start of the fiscal year.

The generator motion clarified the county sought a non‑proprietary system so county maintenance and multiple vendors could service it without recurring proprietary service charges. The motions to approve these purchases were made, seconded and recorded by the court.

Court members expressed concern about past repeated failures of a proprietary switchboard that led to frequent service calls and bills; the new system was presented as a remedy to those maintenance- and vendor-lock issues.

Funding for these capital purchases was included in the FY2026 capital projections and the adopted budget package; the court approved the listed quotes as presented.