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County approves 10‑year Verkada camera system for courthouse, jail and parks
Summary
The commission approved a $162,000 ten‑year Verkada camera contract with Pine Cove Consulting to consolidate multiple camera contracts, add courthouse, jail and parks coverage, and install panic‑button hubs; county attorney said a State NASPO contract waives the usual bid threshold.
The Anaconda‑Deer Lodge County Commission voted 4‑0 to approve a ten‑year countywide camera system proposal from Verkada with local installer Pine Cove Consulting, intended to consolidate six disparate camera contracts and add coverage across the jail, courthouse and several parks.
Detective Sergeant Ryan Eamon told commissioners the county currently operates multiple, separate surveillance contracts and lacks comprehensive outside coverage for courthouse grounds and parks. He said the proposal would install roughly 27 cameras in the jail, seven at the courthouse, several cameras at parks and hubs for eleven panic buttons in county facilities. “We have over twenty-seven cameras that watch the inmates… and in that circumstance, we have three different contracts,” Eamon said, adding that current coverage leaves some county properties without reliable footage.
Verkada representative Keaton Lash and Pine Cove project manager Kyle Rygg described the procurement and service model: a ten‑year warranty and cloud‑forward system, an estimated total project cost of about $162,000 spread over ten years (Verkada representatives framed that as roughly $16,000/year), and cloud retention policies described in the presentation (county retention targets discussed were 60–90 days depending on camera location). The vendors said equipment failures would be covered during the ten‑year term and that state cooperative purchasing (NASPO contract AR2472) provides government pricing that creates an exception to formal local competitive bidding.
Commissioners asked about monitoring, access and backup power. County Attorney Morgan Smith advised the commission the State contract can be used and that Montana law provides an exception to local advertising/bidding for equipment acquired under an existing government contract. Commissioners also discussed where live monitoring would sit in dispatch, what departments would receive administrative access, and whether uninterruptible power systems would be added to avoid gaps during outages.
“It's for legal purposes and safety purposes,” Chair Kevin Hart said in support of expanding coverage to protect county property and public users of parks and recreational facilities. The motion to approve the Verkada proposal passed unanimously. The county will execute final contract documents and schedule phased installation; staff said the system can be expanded later as needs evolve.
