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Commissioners approve roughly $39,500 in security camera purchases for county offices
Summary
The court approved purchase and installation of security cameras for the tax assessor-collector, county clerk, Justice of the Peace Precinct 1 and Precinct 4, citing staff safety concerns and a quoted total of $39,477; commissioners asked staff to follow up with a system-wide security assessment.
The Newton County Commissioners approved the purchase and installation of security cameras and related hardware for several county offices after a presentation of vendor quotes and safety concerns.
Presiding staff presented line-item quotes and said totals for the work summed to $39,477: Precinct 1 office $11,585, tax office $8,044, county clerk $3,765 and an annex/subcourthouse line of $16,083. Presenters discussed whether some offices could use the sheriff's server to reduce costs while others would need local servers.
Commissioners cited recent incidents, including a reported stalker at Precinct 1 and repeated irate visitors at the tax office, as reasons to prioritize cameras and panic buttons. A commissioner said the court should not install a system that only records events but should install monitoring and panic alerts to enable an immediate response.
After discussion about funding sources and the practicality of using existing equipment, the court moved to approve the presented purchase and installation. Bruce Brown was identified in the transcript as the mover; the motion was seconded and commissioners signaled approval. The court also directed staff to follow up with a security assessment for additional offices and to evaluate funding options.
The transcript does not record a detailed roll-call tally for the camera purchase vote.
