Adams County’s health department asked commissioners for and received approval to purchase a $30,000 upgrade to its existing vital-records software, county staff said. Health director Jessica told the board the upgrade — an update with the current vendor rather than a new system — would allow staff to issue death certificates electronically, maintain an electronic database for historical death records, and automatically exchange data with the state system.

"The upgrades will not only allow us to be more efficient in issuing these birth certificates, it will also allow us to issue death certificates. It will give us a receiving program because all of that right now is on paper," Jessica said. She said the county has the $30,000 in its budget and the developer recommended the upgrade after staff reported slow operation and occasional need for back‑door fixes.

Commissioners moved and seconded a request to permit the purchase; the motion passed. Staff did not provide a firm installation timeline in the meeting but indicated the vendor and local IT staff are coordinating operating-system and compatibility checks before proceeding.

Separately, the meeting included discussion about the environmental and septic inspection functions the health department performs. Jessica said county permits for septic systems are valid for two years and that the department relies on midwives and helpers to initiate birth registrations, which must occur within one year to be registered locally; otherwise families must go through the state process.

Commissioners and staff identified an enforcement gap after occupancy issuance: county building and planning staff certify occupancy but the health department lacks capacity to routinely re-inspect or enforce post‑move‑in septic and gray‑water requirements. Several commissioners said they would support adding enforcement capacity or clarifying processes to ensure occupied residences meet septic and gray‑water standards.

Next steps: The software upgrade was approved and county IT will work with the vendor on compatibility. Health and planning staff will outline enforcement needs and present options for enforcement resources to the commissioners for consideration.