Erie County council approves 10‑year sole‑vendor Axon storage contract for district attorney

The Erie County Council on July 30 advanced and then approved a 10‑year exclusive contract with Axon Enterprise to host the district attorney's digital evidence under a waiver of the county's bid requirements.

The district attorney told the council the package, described as the Axon Justice Premier Plus, would “allow us to categorize, organize, streamline the discovery process,” and provide audit trails and chain‑of‑custody protections the office needs to meet court disclosure obligations, the DA said. Detective Sergeant Anne Stein told the council, “It is truly unlimited storage.”

IT staff and the DA's office said the decision was driven by rapidly rising hardware and storage costs and by long retention requirements for evidence. An IT official told council members a county equipment quote had risen dramatically: “I had ordered a piece of equipment of a $76,000. When I requoted it just 6 months later, it was nearly 700,000.”

Council members split over whether the item needed to be handled at a special meeting and whether the county should solicit competing bids. Several members said the packet and agenda had been posted at short notice and asked for more time; others said the technical and cost pressures justified expediting the contract. After discussion the council voted to move the item to a second reading and then approved the waiver and contract by a 6–1 margin.

The DA's office will proceed to implement the Axon service under the awarded contract; the council recorded the votes and closed the special meeting.