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Custer County approves 10-year Axon contract for body cameras, tasers
Summary
The Custer County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a 10-year renewal with Axon Tuesday to continue providing body-worn cameras, evidence cloud services and conducted-energy devices; commissioners raised concerns about vendor lock-in and annual costs rising modestly.
The Custer County Board of Commissioners voted April 8 to approve a 10-year contract renewal with Axon, the vendor that supplies the county’s body-worn cameras and conducted-energy devices.
The sheriff’s office told commissioners the county’s current Axon service includes body cameras that automatically tag and retain video, integrated evidence-management services and accessories such as docks and instructor certification. Sheriff Rich said the system “turns the camera on all by itself” when a device is activated and that it stores GPS and other metadata alongside video files.
County staff told commissioners the county currently pays roughly $32,000 per year under its existing contract and that the renewal would raise that to about $34,000 annually under the 10-year option. Commissioners asked whether equipment upgrades are included; staff said the vendor commits to periodic hardware refreshes during the contract term.
Several commissioners expressed unease about market concentration and the difficulty of migrating large volumes of stored video. Commissioner Paul said he disliked “doing business with a company that’s got a monopoly,” and staff acknowledged that alternate vendors could require the county to host data on its own servers.
The contract discussion addressed budget mechanics and exit options. County counsel said non-appropriation language in the contract means the county could choose not to fund the service in a future year. Commissioners were told that an early termination would likely carry fees but that operationally the county could stop funding the service if needed.
Motion and vote: A commissioner moved to approve the 10-year Axon contract; a second was recorded and the board voted in favor. The motion passed and the contract renewal was approved.
What’s next: The sheriff’s office and finance staff will implement the procurement terms and reflect the renewed obligations in upcoming budgets and appropriation cycles.
