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Cowlitz County approves Granicus agreement to manage public‑records intake and data export
Summary
The Cowlitz County Board of Commissioners approved an end‑user license agreement with Granicus to manage public‑records intake, expand redaction licenses and enable a paid data export to give the county a local copy of records currently hosted by the vendor.
Cowlitz County commissioners on March 4 approved an end‑user license agreement with Granicus, a cloud‑hosted vendor that handles the county’s public‑records intake and redaction workflows, the county’s IT director told the board.
The agreement formalizes licensing for the software the county has been using without a contract, adds redaction seats and includes a provision under which Granicus will supply an extract of the county’s data for a fixed fee so the county can retain its own copy and evaluate other vendors.
IT Director Travis Huschini told commissioners the county has operated the Granicus software as a hosted (SaaS) service but “we do not have the data” in mass. He said the new contract “will provide us that data on request for a fixed amount” and enable the county to export existing records if it later chooses a different vendor. “From memory, I think the amount that we’ve agreed to pay is $1,500,” Huschini said. A commissioner later referenced $1,700 as the extraction amount while discussing implementation.
Huschini also said the county requested additional redaction licenses to handle a rise in redaction work tied to body‑worn camera footage. A member of the public asked whether the agreement covers records from the sheriff’s office and other county departments; Huschini replied it affects “all public records request of the county or departments of the county.”
Commissioners moved and approved the agreement by voice vote. The board did not record individual named votes in the transcript; commissioners responded “Aye. Aye.” when the chair called for approval.
The contract change gives the county a formal pathway to obtain a local extract of data Granicus currently hosts, and it formalizes licensing for ongoing intake and redaction work. County staff said they plan to use the coming year to export and evaluate the data for possible migration to another vendor before the next renewal.
Implementation details such as which county unit will oversee the exported archive, the exact timing of the data transfer and whether the extraction fee will be paid immediately or over time were discussed briefly but not decided during the meeting. The board approved the item as presented by the IT director and closed the discussion.
