Yankton County approves $37,995 in server upgrades, pauses $20,000 firewall purchase pending state review
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Summary
The commission approved two server projects totaling $37,995 to replace an aged safety-center server and migrate government-center data, but deferred a roughly $20,000 firewall replacement pending Secure South Dakota review and potential reimbursement.
Yankton County commissioners voted March 3 to approve two IT projects — a new safety‑center server and a government‑center migration — totaling $29,791.06 and $8,203.90 respectively, while holding off on a separate firewall purchase until the county can seek funding from Secure South Dakota.
Alan Armstrong, identified in the meeting packet as a CSI representative, told the commission the server at the safety center is about 12 years old, runs an unsupported Microsoft operating system and is critical to daily operations at the jail. "The total amount that I have on this proposal is $29,791.06," Armstrong said, adding that warranty coverage and a faster shipping option raised the price slightly but would shorten lead time.
CSI also presented a $20,001.58 estimate to replace expired firewalls across county locations. The vendor said the county's current firewall appliances are unsupported and vulnerable to known SonicWall security issues; replacing them would add modern security services. "We can't patch the firewalls because they are not supported anymore," the CSI presenter said, urging the commission to consider the firewall work for cyber‑risk reduction.
Commissioners discussed budget impacts and whether Secure South Dakota (SecureSD) would cover some or all of the firewall cost. The board agreed to approve the safety‑center and government‑center server projects now — citing the immediate risk of outage at the safety center — and to submit the firewall estimate to SecureSD for review before committing county funds. A commissioner noted the county budget included an IT allocation and that moving forward with the server work would draw from that line.
The motion to approve the two server projects passed; the firewall project was placed on a future agenda pending SecureSD feedback.
What's next: staff will submit the firewall estimate to SecureSD for possible reimbursement and report back to the commission at the next meeting.
