County approves new phone system and records software contracts to modernize public-safety and phone services

San Patricio County commissioners approved two IT-related contracts intended to modernize law-enforcement records and the county's phone system.

For public-safety records, the court approved a 36-month hosted RSM agreement with Teller Tech Technologies at an annual cost of $70,280; county staff said the current system is end of life and not NIBRS compliant, making a replacement necessary to meet reporting requirements. A sheriff's office representative said on the record, "We've discovered that our current system is not NIBRS compliant, and it will never be. And the only way to become NIBRS compliant is to go to this new system." Commissioners voted to approve the Teller Tech contract after staff recommendation.

For telephony, the court approved a 60-month service agreement with Vested Networks for the county's new phone system with a monthly recurring charge (MRC) of $6,542.75. Commissioners emphasized training: one commissioner asked that staff "teach us how to use these phones," noting training was insufficient with the previous rollout. The motion to approve the phone-system agreement passed unanimously; commissioners asked staff to return with training and implementation details.

Both approvals followed staff presentations and were recorded after the court reconvened from an executive session. The agreements were authorized as described; the court did not complete detailed pricing-breakdown discussions at the meeting and will rely on vendor contracts and staff to implement the systems.