Muskegon County approves two-year renewal with Accurate Controls for jail management software at $74,470.17 per year

The Muskegon County Board of Commissioners approved a two-year renewal with Accurate Controls to continue supporting the county jailactive-control software at an annual cost of $74,470.17 and authorized the board chair to sign the contract.

The contract renewal, listed as CPS 25/05-12 in board materials, keeps in place software the countyIT director described as proprietary and responsible for integrating multiple systems inside the jail. Matt Kelleher, Muskegon County IT director, said the software "ties in 5 or 6 different vendors into a single coherent system that can be centrally managed in the JDC and in the jail." Kelleher added that past requests for proposals produced a single bidder and the county expects to reissue an RFP in two years.

The board motion instructed staff to adjust the jail budget to reflect the contract cost and to authorize the board chair to sign. A staff member identified as Andy clarified the board would "recover 10% of that 74," when asked whether the 10% recovery applied before or after the annual amount.

Board members asked whether the software is proprietary and whether switching vendors would require new equipment; Kelleher said the system is proprietary but not necessarily impossible to replace, noting replacement would likely require coordinating multiple separate vendor systems.

Vote: The board recorded affirmative votes from Chair Nash; Vice Chair Cook; Commissioner Cyr; Commissioner Herman; Commissioner McGuigan; and Commissioner Page. The motion approved the two-year renewal and budget adjustment.

The county plans to go out for a new RFP in two years, Kelleher said, providing an opportunity to seek alternative vendors if the market changes.