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Knox County IT reports first‑in‑county software integration, Starlink aid in search and work to meet Ohio cybersecurity law
Summary
Kyle Webb told Knox County commissioners the IT department helped integrate the auditor's appraisal and MSP software — possibly the first county to do so — assisted the sheriff with Starlink satellite internet during a missing-person search, and is drafting policies to comply with Ohio House Bill 96. The county is evaluating password‑security tools and firewall replacements.
Kyle Webb, of the Knox County IT department, told the Board of Commissioners on Sept. 9 that his team has completed the heavy lifting on an integration between the auditor’s appraisal system and an MSP product, and that Knox County may be among the first counties to connect those two vendor platforms. “I think we’re pretty much the first county that’s integrated these two softwares together,” Webb said, adding that technical coordination between the two vendors and server configuration consumed much of the work: “that took a large amount of time.”
Webb described emergency support the IT office provided to the sheriff’s office during a search for a missing 77‑year‑old in an east‑county area that lacked cell coverage. IT staff deployed two Starlink satellite terminals — one loaned by a chaplain and one purchased for the sheriff’s office — to establish internet for dispatch and on‑scene coordination. Webb credited Blake Moore for field assistance in the deployment and said the sheriff’s office plans to keep a Starlink unit available for similar future incidents.
On cybersecurity compliance, Webb said the county is preparing to meet requirements of Ohio House Bill 96 (Ohio C.O. 9.64), which mandates that political subdivisions adopt a cybersecurity program. Webb said earlier interpretations of the law left deadlines unclear but that the county now plans adoption and implementation by Jan. 1. He said IT has drafted formal policies — incident response procedures, risk‑assessment templates and related documents — that will be reviewed by the prosecutor’s office before coming to the commissioners for formal adoption.
Webb also discussed authentication policy changes: federal guidance has shifted away from frequent eight‑character password rotations toward longer passphrases combined with monitoring tools that detect compromised credentials. Webb said the county intends to purchase a password‑monitoring tool before migrating to passphrases; timing depends on the current budget review. “The first piece is you want to get that tool in place that checks if your password’s been compromised in another breach,” Webb said.
He described ongoing infrastructure choices — firewall replacements and vendor licensing models — and noted that criminal justice systems impose specific compliance requirements that limit wholesale standardization. Webb said the county is balancing cost, compatibility and subscription licensing when evaluating replacements.
Webb summarized additional IT projects, including design coordination for the new Mount Vernon Police Department wiring and phone‑system cleanup tied to the city‑hall move. He told commissioners only a few device installs remained from a recent replacement batch and that most county endpoints had been updated.
The county will route Webb’s drafted HB 96 compliance materials through the prosecutor’s office before returning them to the commissioners for adoption. No formal dates for adoption were set during the report.
