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Sheriff seeks new vendor for jail camera installation after original vendor raised costs
Summary
Polk County authorized the sheriff's office to accept a new proposal from Williams Communications to install cameras in the old section of the county jail after the originally approved vendor sought substantial change orders that increased the price.
The court reviewed a request from the sheriff's office to ratify a new vendor and amended funding resolution for the purchase and installation of cameras in the old section of the Polk County jail. The new proposal from Williams Communications replaces the prior vendor STS 360 after STS 360 submitted additional work requests that raised its original quote significantly.
Court staff explained that on Feb. 25 the court had approved STS 360's proposal at $31,841.60, funded from 2024 revenues for housing out‑of‑county inmates. After an additional walkthrough STS 360 advised the county that additional conduit work and other items would add roughly $9,000 and then proposed further add‑ons that would have increased the bid toward $41,000. The county solicited a comparable quote from Williams Communications that was only modestly higher than the original STS 360 quote.
A representative from the sheriff's office said the county needed to proceed to avoid delaying installation of equipment critical to jail safety. Another staff member described the process: "They come back, try to add ... the bid jumped to, like, $41,000. I asked for another walkthrough, and the other bid come in ... This bid here is, like, 600 and some dollars over the original, and it's way far from the 41,000." (staff member comment recorded in the meeting.)
The court approved moving forward with the Williams Communications proposal and the amended funding resolution using the same revenue source previously authorized for the STS 360 purchase. The transcript records the motion and that it carried.
Ending: The sheriff's office will proceed with the Williams Communications installation under the amended resolution and funding previously allocated for out‑of‑county inmate housing revenues.
