County leaders told judges and court staff that the legislature and the county's insurance carrier have pushed for a consolidated cybersecurity approach, and they urged courts to move IT protections under a single county-managed umbrella to reduce exposure and retain insurance coverage. "The insurance carrier ... has said, if you guys don't get this thing taken care of, we won't be back," an official said at the work session.

Court participants said they currently have one IT person supporting the courts, probation and jury commission and that the courts planned to hire a second IT staffer paid from special revenue funds. The county suggested taking on the cybersecurity function centrally to provide backup for routine hardware and to standardize protections, while allowing departments to retain staff for daily operational issues.

Staff discussed prior vendor experience and a vendor name was cited in the meeting as a potential partner; participants described realizing cost efficiencies if departments join a single managed-cybersecurity contract rather than each department purchasing separate protections. The county also said it spent significant sums responding to a prior cyber incident and that consolidating protections would reduce both risk and future insurance premiums or nonrenewal risk.

Officials agreed to continue discussions and to include county IT leadership in any plans to hire additional court IT staff or to reallocate funds. The parties also said they would coordinate on procurement and rate negotiations to seek economies of scale and meet insurer requirements.