Pipestone County commissioners voted Nov. 25 to move forward with a bundled Motorola records-management (RMS)/computer-aided dispatch (CAD) upgrade and Motorola body- and squad-camera system, county staff and the sheriff's office said.

Sheriff Keith Raymond told the board the move is the culmination of a multi-year effort to replace aging software and to restore vehicle mapping, improve evidence handling and introduce AI-assisted redaction to reduce staff time. "What we're asking for today is to move forward with what's been presented for, to move forward with the Motorola RMS Cad Mobile Flex Suite System and the Motorola body camera in squad camera in squad refresh issuing brand new body cameras," Raymond said.

County staff presented a 10-year cost comparison that showed the Motorola bundle totaled roughly $1.01 million over 10 years, with first-year payments presented by staff at about $264,000 and a camera-implementation initiation amount of approximately $54,009.35. Staff recommended drawing $45,000 from an existing equipment fund, using a previously earmarked $100,000 in one-time public-safety aid and allocating ongoing payments to the county's 9-1-1 fund. Raymond said the county currently receives about $14,000 a month in 9-1-1 funds and expects the RMS annual payment to be handled primarily from those receipts.

The sheriff and IT staff emphasized storage and redaction as central considerations. Presenters said video would be offloaded to a secure government cloud so the county can retain high-definition footage without building large on-premises storage, and AI tools would speed redaction for public-records requests. "AI is gonna be a factor in some of those data redactions, which will help, for hours of staff timing and staff pressure when those data requests come in," Raymond said during the presentation.

Board members asked about vendor options, contract length and service continuity. Staff said Motorola's bundled approach currently offered a longer locked-in pricing horizon, which reduced projected long-term increases compared with one competitive alternative considered (Central Square with Motorola cameras) and a separate Axon/WatchGuard bid. Staff also said the camera system includes a refresh cycle that will provide new body cameras at year three under the proposed contract and that Motorola offered contract terms intended to limit steep annual increases after the initial period.

A motion to proceed with the Motorola RMS/CAD and camera package passed by voice vote. County staff were instructed to complete the contracting and begin scheduling implementation; vendors told the board body and squad cameras could be operational in roughly 60 0 days, with the RMS data-conversion and full rollout targeted toward January 2027.

Authorities and funding sources referenced in the discussion included county 9-1-1 funds, a prior one-time public-safety aid allocation and internal equipment reserves. The board did not discuss specific vendor contract language in this meeting; staff said they would return paperwork and payment milestones for execution.