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County approves cyber‑forensics fund ordinance to centralize digital evidence costs
Summary
The board approved Ordinance 2025-05 to create a nonreverting cyber‑forensics fund intended to share non‑personnel costs among local law enforcement agencies for digital device examinations.
Boone County commissioners approved Ordinance 2025-05 on July 21 to establish a nonreverting fund intended to cover nonpersonnel costs for countywide cyber‑forensics work, a prosecutor said.
Prosecutor Kent Eastwood told the board that digital‑device forensics has grown substantially and that two current agencies—the sheriff—s office and the Whitestown Police Department—have been covering most costs. He said a two‑person unit examined nearly 1,300 devices in the prior year and that software licensing alone cost roughly $120,000 the previous year. Eastwood described the ordinance as the first step toward creating a countywide unit and said agencies would work on memoranda of understanding and cost sharing.
Under the plan described at the meeting, participating law enforcement agencies would contribute to the fund to cover nonpersonnel expenses such as software and replacement computers; Eastwood said each agency was expected to budget $25,000 for the first year. He said his office would initially pay invoices from the fund while agencies organize governance and MOUs.
The board opened a public hearing, voted to suspend the rules to consider the ordinance in a single reading, and then adopted Ordinance 2025-05 by voice vote. Commissioners discussed the need for shared funding and in‑house capacity to avoid outsourcing time and expense to outside providers. No detailed MOU or implementation timeline was adopted at the meeting; Eastwood said MOUs and cost‑sharing details were in progress.
