The Bannock County Commission on Thursday authorized signing a contract to replace the county's Fastcase legal-research subscription with VLEX.

The request came from Jason Dye, law-library administrator, who told commissioners the county already has the line-item in the budget and that VLEX is "a little bit more user friendly" with "more bells and whistles" for legal research.

Dye said the switch will not raise the department's planned spending. He noted the VLEX price was below what had been budgeted; exact dollar amounts discussed in the meeting were not specified. A commissioner moved to allow the signature on the contract; the commission approved the motion by voice vote.

Commissioners did not raise further questions during the discussion. The change was described as a direct replacement of the county's previous Fastcase contract so staff can continue providing in-county legal-research access for court and law-library users.

The commission recorded the request, authorized signature for the VLEX contract, and closed the item with a voice vote. No formal roll-call tally was provided on the record.