County IT wins approval for three-year govOS forms and e-sign platform

The McPherson County Board of Commissioners approved a three-year contract for the govOS digital forms platform Feb. 24, authorizing county information-technology staff to renew a subscription for online forms, e-signatures and back-end workflows.

IT coordinator Jeff Butler told commissioners that planning and zoning had previously used form functionality embedded in its platform, but that departments have faced usability, security and account‑management challenges. Butler said govOS will restore form capabilities, add workflow routing (for example, routing job applications from HR to payroll) and consolidate e-signatures. He said he negotiated multi-year pricing that reduces annual increases and keeps per-year costs lower than a recent renewal would have been.

Butler said the three‑year total cost is about $23,006.44 in the vendor estimate he provided; the motion the board approved set a three‑year not‑to‑exceed amount of $23,643.75 and authorized payment on an annual basis. The contract includes a mix of admin and basic user licenses; IT will administer the subscription and departments will use available basic licenses.

Commissioners asked about data security and PII handling. Butler said the vendor is oriented toward government customers, that data is encrypted in cloud storage, and that IT will administer access to minimize exposure of personal data from job applications and other forms.

The board voted aye on a motion to approve the three‑year contract and to fund the subscription through the county IT budget. Commissioners did not vote on any departmental cost-sharing in the minutes; Butler said the county previously split costs but now runs billing through IT.