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County staff flag AI-drafted language in emergency plan; commissioners urge legal review
Summary
Staff presented draft standing delegated authorities for the county's Emergency Operations Plan base plan that used AI-generated language; commissioners asked for alignment with federal/state law, county code and counsel review and directed departments to review roles with roughly a one-year timeline to finalize.
County staff reviewed draft standing delegated authorities in the Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) base plan at the May 12 meeting and told commissioners the initial language had been generated by artificial intelligence. The presenter said the intent was to formalize authority for department heads to take immediate action during disasters—examples cited included steps to protect information-technology systems during a cyberattack.
"This is a discussion regarding the standing delegated authorities in the EOP base plan. We drafted these using AI," the staff member said, adding the language is intended to supplement existing federal law, state law and county code and that final approvals would involve county counsel and other legal reviews.
Commissioners and presenters emphasized the need to align delegated-authority language with legal constraints and to avoid substituting imprecise AI text for legal counsel drafting. A corrections-focused commissioner noted department directors—such as the corrections director—must retain authorities tied to the safety of supervised people. Staff said the draft will enter a stakeholder review process with department heads and that county-level review and external (state/federal) reviews would follow; presenters estimated roughly a year to reach final approval.
No formal vote or binding delegation occurred at the meeting; commissioners asked staff to continue refining language with department input and counsel review before bringing a final version back to the board.
