IT requests $hundreds of thousands in capital, security and staffing needs for FY2026

Rockwall County IT director Brian Crenshaw told the commissioners court during its June 16 budget workshop that the department’s FY2026 request centers on several end-of-life hardware replacements, new cybersecurity services tied to Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) guidance, and a modest staff reorganization.

Crenshaw listed capital options for the county’s core storage array (the SAN). He said the county currently uses two array “boxes” purchased in 2020 and 2021, with about 30 terabytes of physical capacity now and roughly 20 terabytes used. Options presented were to pay annual support (about $7,000 per device, or roughly $14,000 a year total) and defer purchase; to purchase both replacement arrays now for about $155,000; or to stagger replacement (one next year, one the year after). The quoted replacement capacity is about 40 terabytes per unit, Crenshaw said.

Other capital items included 17 edge switches priced at about $5,800 each (a roughly $102,000 line item), replacement of 33 wireless access points due in 2027 (roughly $32,000), and audiovisual upgrades for the commissioners court projector and video distribution (about $19,000). Crenshaw also showed quotes to replace five Liberty Hall screens (vendor quote about $25,000) but noted commissioners could defer that work this year.

On cybersecurity,…