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Board approves Microsoft 365 renewal; carves out small Copilot AI pilot and requests policy
Summary
IT director Cliff Dupuy corrected subscription pricing and the board authorized renewal of Microsoft 365 with an agreement to pilot Copilot on a small, limited set of users while staff develop an AI acceptable‑use policy and guardrails.
The Board of Commissioners approved renewal of the county’s Microsoft 365 subscription and directed IT to limit Copilot deployment to a small pilot while a formal AI policy and guardrails are developed.
Cliff Dupuy, the county’s IT director, told the board his earlier packet contained incorrect numbers and provided corrected figures: the annual Microsoft subscription renewal was presented at roughly $398,083.80 and the optional Copilot add‑on was estimated at $36 per user per month. Dupuy said the county can upgrade identity services to a level 2 to protect federally sensitive data (CJIS, HIPAA/PHI, PCI) and that Copilot can be configured to honor those identity and data boundaries.
Commissioners voiced caution about immediate broad rollout of Copilot. "I would prefer that we start with a lower amount, build ourselves a policy and then go further," said the Chair. Several commissioners proposed a limited pilot. Commissioner Andrews moved to approve the renewal while excluding Copilot for now and authorizing IT to pilot Copilot for up to 10 users; the motion was seconded and approved. The board asked IT to return with a recommended pilot list of users, a Center of Excellence framework, a draft acceptable‑use policy and results from a short test phase before expanding access.
Dupuy described internal tests of Copilot in a sandbox — for example, uploading rules of evidence for bench use and contract language to run 'what‑if' scenarios for labor costs — and emphasized data residency protections tied to the county’s identity service. Commissioners requested the pilot focus on a small number of designated users (judicial staff, IT, select department leads) while legal and HR help finalize policy and training.
What happens next: IT will execute the renewal as approved, exclude the broader Copilot rollout pending policy, implement a limited pilot (up to 10 users), return with a pilot participant list, and supply a draft AI acceptable‑use policy and Center of Excellence plan for board review.
