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Deschutes County approves updated generative AI policy, urges staff to use secured enterprise tools
Summary
The Board voted to authorize the county administrator to sign revised IT Policy No. IT-2, updating rules for staff use of generative AI and directing use of newly procured enterprise AI security and governance tools.
The Deschutes County Board of Commissioners on April 16 approved a revision to the county’s information technology policy governing generative artificial intelligence, directing staff to use the county’s recently acquired enterprise AI tools.
The update, recorded as revised IT policy No. IT-2, acknowledges two enterprise solutions described by Zach Nima, the county’s information security manager, and adds technical controls and governance for real-time, request-response generative AI and software-embedded AI. “What we were doing is, wrapping the use of generative AI…with policy and security,” Nima said during the meeting.
The policy change follows an earlier AI adoption policy and reflects county IT staff’s effort to impose “sideboards” on staff use of external internet-based AI tools and to protect personally identifiable information, health data and criminal justice information. Nima told commissioners the update encourages staff to use the county-purchased tools that provide governance, privacy and technical controls previously unavailable.
A member of the public, Ron Bozell, asked the board to explain the item before the vote. Zach Nima described two types of generative AI covered by the policy: the interactive prompt-response tools (for example, chat-style large language models) and AI embedded in other software platforms. He said the substantive change is that the county now has technical controls over the real-time prompt-response tools.
Commissioners moved and seconded a motion to authorize the county administrator’s signature on the revised policy. The motion carried with the board recording affirmative votes from the commissioners present and the chair.
The board did not expand the policy discussion at length; staff said the changes respond to rapidly evolving technology and focus on protecting public data while enabling staff productivity. The county’s IT office will administer trainings and require staff to prefer the enterprise tools purchased for county use.
The policy change was approved as a consent-agenda item after a short discussion and the vote, and staff confirmed the update will be rolled out with training and internal communications.
Looking ahead, staff said they will monitor the tools and the policy as the technology and vendor landscape continue to evolve.
