King County committee confirms Stephen Hurd as IT director; nominee outlines cybersecurity, AI and tax-system plans

The King County Committee of the Whole on Feb. 24 unanimously forwarded the executive’s nomination of Stephen Hurd to be director of the King County Department of Information Technology and the county’s chief information officer.

Tara Rose, council staff, summarized the confirmation packet and said staff found the appointment consistent with King County code. Deputy Executive Terry Gill and Mr. Hurd appeared before the committee; Hurd said his priorities include improving cybersecurity, updating privacy practices, modernizing the county website and delivering a long‑running property-tax system replacement.

"Information technology is critical now as it ever has been," Hurd told the committee. He described a planned managed security operations capability to provide 24/7 monitoring and threat detection and said the county will combine internal teams with external services to provide continuous threat identification.

Hurd acknowledged an older information-privacy policy and said a refresh is overdue. "I was surprised that it’s a bit dated," he said, and promised focused work to clarify retention, disposal, collection and operational responsibilities so staff across agencies understand privacy obligations.

Council members pressed Hurd on concrete timelines and oversight. In questioning, one member asked for a commitment that KCIT would provide more frequent public-facing updates on work plans; Hurd agreed to meet regularly and to publicize plans. On artificial intelligence, Hurd said the county had an enterprise governance steering committee underway to address security, privacy and prioritization tied to the business needs of agencies.

Hurd also detailed the Property Tax Administration System (PTAS) replacement: active development began last summer, the county has appropriated about $82,000,000 for the development and implementation phase, and he said the department anticipates completing the development phase in mid‑2028 while deferring some scope into a later operational phase.

Vice Chair Balducci moved approval of the committee motion; the clerk called the roll and recorded seven ayes, zero noes. Council members Von Reichbauer and Dunn were excused. The committee approved sending the item with a "due pass" recommendation to the regular agenda for final confirmation.

The council’s action moves the nomination forward; a final confirmation vote will be included in the consent agenda at the next regular business meeting.