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County IT highlights cybersecurity hire, staffing restored and planned infrastructure upgrades
Summary
Clay County IT reported a new cybersecurity analyst hire, restored staffing to full complement in December, ongoing security enhancements, a five‑year PC refresh and telecom contract changes expected to save money; staff also track roughly 300 help‑desk tickets per month and manage county‑wide devices and hosted services.
Rick, director of Technology Services, updated the board Feb. 11 on department staffing, cybersecurity and several upcoming projects.
Rick said the board approved a cybersecurity analyst position in July and the department filled its last open position in mid‑December, returning to full staffing. He told commissioners the department supports roughly 25 county buildings and handles about 300 help‑desk tickets per month.
Planned work includes a PC refresh and infrastructure replacements approved by the board, continued cybersecurity enhancements and changes to long‑distance/local telecom service. Rick said the county negotiated a new five‑year arrangement with a telephone provider and that the new structure is expected to produce substantial savings (Rick said it would “save us, I think roughly close to $800,000 a month” on the new plan as discussed during the meeting).
The department manages Amazon purchasing accounts (about $175,000 spent last year) and cell‑device accounts; Rick said Verizon mobile device expenses represent a material recurring cost on the order of tens of thousands annually. Staff run backups and disaster recovery tests and provide training on IT topics on request. The cybersecurity analyst is also doing outreach: Rick said she will speak to students about cybersecurity work in February.
Law‑enforcement e‑citation software was described as end‑of‑life and the county is evaluating options across six law enforcement agencies. Rick told the board that several hosted and cloud migration opportunities are being explored for tax and attorney systems but that those projects remain under review.
Commissioners asked about security around shared data and external partners; Rick said the county has reviewed incoming connections since a 2023 cyber incident and now applies tighter, minimum‑access rules for external data connections.
