Warren County supervisors approve grant acceptance, software contract amendment and two grant-funded communications positions

Warren County supervisors on Wednesday approved multiple budget and staffing measures, including accepting a $367,013.39 program award, approving a contract-related resolution for a case-management subscription and authorizing two grant-funded communications positions for the county’s public safety communications center.

The measures came after staff presentations and short exchanges during the board’s meeting. A representative identifying themselves as the county’s public defender asked the board to adopt a separate resolution approving a 3% annual increase in subscription fees for the Legal Server case-management contract, saying the increase is embedded in the existing contract but requires a distinct resolution. “It is a software program that keeps track of all our cases, of the pleadings of those cases, commencement of those cases, and the final resolution of those cases,” the public defender said, explaining the software’s role in reporting to county and state funding agencies.

Board discussion also covered a suggested budget amendment to accept an additional SCIP program award. A motion to bring the budget amendment to the floor referenced “President Driscoll” and “Supervisor Gilligan” during the motion call; the board approved the measure by voice vote. The transcript records the award amount as $367,013.39.

Separately, staff requested permission to transfer leftover Homeland Security/SICG grant funds from 2025 into 2026 so the money can be spent by the county’s public safety answering point and 911 center. A county official described the SICG award as a multiyear funding source the county has received “for decades” and said the grant typically is used for personnel at the communications center. “With this grant award, it will allow us…it will allow us to essentially fund completely fund the salaries…and the majority of the fringe for a period of 2 years,” the official said, adding that the county would revisit the positions if the grant funding ceased after two years.

The board approved a motion to combine the items related to the SICG grant and the creation of two communications officer positions; board members responded in a voice vote in favor. During discussion, a presenter said the grant would likely cover the bulk of salary and fringe costs but estimated about $50,000 would remain after accounting for salaries and fringe benefits; how any remainder would be used was described as a departmental decision.

Board members briefly discussed technology and subscriptions during the public defender’s presentation. One supervisor asked about the potential for artificial intelligence to replicate work performed by subscription services; the public defender said Westlaw includes AI for legal research but the office has not deployed AI for case management and is still evaluating options.

Staff also announced a countywide payroll-system implementation using UKG, with a kickoff meeting scheduled for the coming Wednesday and a phased rollout that will bring the sheriff’s office onto the new system in mid- to late July and continue through September 2026.

All recorded votes on the above measures were taken by voice; the transcript records members saying “Aye” but does not provide numerical tallies. The meeting adjourned after the scheduled items were handled.