Commissioners approve Sewell/ProFit upfitting for sheriff’s fleet after warranty and logistics questions

The Midland County Commissioners' Court voted to permit the sheriff’s office to purchase and outfit sheriff’s office vehicles through Sewell and the ProFit upfitter after an extended discussion about logistics, warranty and radio security.

The sheriff (speaker on record as the department lead) explained the proposed process: Sewell would order and deliver vehicles to the county with light IT packages installed; ProFit would perform upfitting so vehicles arrive “nearly ready to be used.” Fleet and IT staff raised concerns about encrypted radios, handling of sensitive law-enforcement equipment, warranty turnaround times and where warranty repairs would be performed — locally or at ProFit’s East Texas facility. IT staff emphasized a desire to retain possession/control of radio encryption keys and to minimize offsite handling of radios carrying law-enforcement data.

Commissioners pressed for written assurances and operational expectations (turnaround time, warranty response, local service commitments). The sheriff said he had vendor contacts and had received verbal assurances from other agencies about ProFit’s performance and accepted responsibility if any hiccups occurred. One commissioner suggested approving the request today and seeking a written contract or expectations to review within a few weeks; another commissioner asked staff to work with the sheriff and the vendor to put expectations in writing.

The court then approved the motion to authorize the sheriff to purchase and outfit vehicles through Sewell and ProFit by voice vote. After the vote, commissioners reiterated that they expect written commitments addressing warranty and logistics to be provided and that staff would follow up to ensure interdepartmental concerns (fleet, IT, purchasing) are addressed.