IT director outlines computer refresh; prosecutor asks vendor service agreement be pulled for legal review after prior emergency procurements

Travis Uschini, director of information technology, told the Board of County Commissioners the county plans to replace about 68 computers as part of its annual refresh, a procurement budgeted at roughly $190,000. "We are proposing to replace computers during our annual refresh, and there are roughly 68 computers up for refresh," Uschini said, noting about 45–50 of those are ruggedized devices for the sheriff’s office funded from a special equipment fund. Uschini also summarized a recent cybersecurity investigation: after observing suspicious network activity a few months ago, IT engaged two specialist vendors to threat-hunt and investigate. They determined one stream of activity was benign — caused by a security appliance operating as designed — but the investigation revealed a separate incident that compromised the environment. "There was no data loss as far as we know, but that was remediated and mitigated as far as we can tell," Uschini said. Separately, a proposed vendor services agreement related to prior emergency procurements was on the agenda but had been withdrawn. Doug Jensen, the county prosecutor, told the commissioners his office had met with purchasing staff and recommended the agreement remain off the agenda until procurement and contract terms are fully resolved. "There appears to be somewhat of a misunderstanding or disconnect between purchasing and IT," Jensen said, and recommended the parties reach mutual understanding of the scope and terms before presentation to the board. Commissioners debated whether they could authorize vendor engagement subject to contract approval; the prosecutor advised that the county should ensure the agreement’s terms align with the underlying piggybacking agreement and procurement rules before approving anything. Uschini said the contract he was replacing expires at the end of the month and that he will work with purchasing and legal to bring a clarified agreement back to the board as soon as practicable. No formal board vote was taken on the vendor services agreement during the meeting. The board approved moving forward with the planned computer refresh as a budgeted procurement and asked staff to return with contract language and procurement clarifications for the withheld services agreement.