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Stevens County approves draft AI policy to set guardrails for staff use and vendor testing
Summary
The county board approved an AI policy to govern use of generative and embedded AI tools, require data‑practice compliance and encourage testing of Microsoft Copilot in the county’s government cloud; the board voted to adopt the policy after staff explained training and vendor‑vetting plans.
County staff presented a draft artificial‑intelligence policy intended to set basic guardrails for county employees and elected officials using AI tools.
The presenter described the draft as a borrowed policy adapted for county use and said it focuses on data practices: what staff may enter into generative AI tools, how vendors must be vetted and how departments with specialized data (for example, human services and law enforcement) must follow their own, stricter rules. The presenter said the county already uses AI features embedded in vendor software (for example, redaction features in body‑cam systems and automatic transcription/dictation tools) and that the policy would create a governance framework for broader use.
Staff explained plans to test Microsoft Copilot within the county’s Microsoft government‑cloud licensing, which would limit storage to a trusted government environment; the presenter said pilot testing will include attempts to transcribe multi‑speaker public meetings and to draft meeting minutes and follow‑up items for staff review. Staff warned that public generative tools (for example, ChatGPT) should not receive private personal identifiers such as Social Security numbers or medical information and said that anyone using generative outputs must verify source accuracy.
A question from the board asked whether employees and elected officials would be trained on acceptable uses. Staff said the policy includes guidance and that departments with specific federal or state rules (for example, CJIS for law enforcement and DHS/health data for human services) will apply those rules on top of the county policy. Staff said the policy will evolve as tools and vendor offerings change.
After discussion, a commissioner moved to approve the Stevens County AI policy and the board approved that motion. The transcript records “motion carries”; no roll‑call tally was recorded in the meeting minutes.
