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Morris County commissioners seek AI policy, data‑governance committee to guide use
Summary
Commissioners discussed forming a county-level artificial intelligence policy committee to set rules on staff use, data governance and pilot FAQ applications after several county representatives attended AI sessions at a recent conference.
Morris County commissioners discussed forming an artificial intelligence policy and data‑governance committee and directed staff to study limited pilot uses and safeguards.
Commissioners said the proposal grew from sessions on artificial intelligence attended by county officials and recommended a cross‑departmental committee that would include legal and IT representatives. "We really don't want our staff in the county to be putting potentially, confidential, county information into these AI applications," said Commissioner, summarizing concerns raised in the session.
The nut graf: Commissioners presented the committee idea as an early step to protect county data while exploring potential efficiency gains from AI, including a small pilot for an FAQ chatbot on the county website. The discussion emphasized data protection, lawyer involvement, and training on responsible use.
County officials described specific data risks and governance tools discussed at the conference. Commissioners noted two related technical approaches: basic AI assistance and retrieval‑augmented generation (RAG), which loads local documents into a model and so requires explicit safeguards. "You load in specific information from your operation so that the model learns better about how you want to do things," the Commissioner said, adding that ring‑fencing vendor solutions can prevent data leakage in some deployments.
Discussion points included who would sit on the committee (IT, legal and representatives from multiple departments), whether to require vendor assurances that data would be segregated, and a caution that staff might inadvertently submit confidential information into third‑party systems. The Commissioner asked for feedback from colleagues and suggested designating a commissioner designee to work with administration and IT to develop a proposal.
No formal ordinance or resolution was adopted at the work session; commissioners sought consensus to move forward with staff research and a committee structure and to return with a formal recommendation. The county noted an existing internal pilot: testing of an FAQ application on the county website, which commissioners said they want reviewed for data governance implications.
Ending: County staff were asked to circulate materials from the conference and to prepare a brief proposal on committee membership, data protections and possible pilot scope for a future meeting.
