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Prosecutors and county staff review Axon, NICE to replace ShareFile after big price jump; RFP for DA office released
Summary
The district attorney's office told commissioners that ShareFile storage costs have risen and that two discovery-management vendors, Axon and NICE, are being evaluated; the commission approved release of an RFP for the DA's office contractor services.
A representative of the district attorney's office told the Penobscot County Commission on July 23 that the current discovery delivery and storage system (ShareFile) has become markedly more expensive and operationally brittle as video evidence grows.
The DA's presenter said ShareFile historically cost the county roughly $5,000 but that a corporate buyout and storage growth have driven the cost closer to $20,000 for Penobscot and Piscataquis counties. The office has scheduled demos of two specialized discovery-management platforms, Axon Evidence and NICE (often marketed as NICE Justice/Evidence), which provide unified file formats, automatic transcripts, easier exhibit editing, and unlimited storage models for evidence collections.
The presenter described user problems under the current system: multiple links for multi-officer incidents, different proprietary video formats that require separate players, and long download times that make it difficult to give defense counsel timely access to media. The proposed alternatives would permit logged-in access without repeated downloads, convert disparate video formats to a single playable format, and offer tools to redact or produce trial exhibits.
Commission staff and prosecutors said a statewide office in Kennebec had already switched to Axon and reported significant workflow improvements. The county has scheduled a NICE statewide demonstration for prosecutors on August 12 and is arranging an Axon demo; staff recommended pursuing one of the enterprise solutions rather than continue escalating ShareFile costs.
Separately, the commission approved a motion to release an RFP for contractor services for the district attorney's office; the motion carried unanimously.
Ending: The DA's office will proceed with vendor demos, continue pricing analysis and coordinate with municipalities and police departments on possible countywide adoption; staff released the RFP for the DA's office as directed by commissioners.
