County IT consultant warns of large backlog of outdated computers and CJIS compliance gaps

Sam Goldsmith of Goldsmith Solutions told the Coryell County Commissioners Court that the county’s IT assets are substantially out of sync with modern security and operational standards and recommended a multi-year replacement schedule.

“Out of 232 user computers, 37 meet modern standards,” Goldsmith said, summarizing his inventory and lifecycle work. He told the court that 51 units should be addressed in the next 12–24 months, while about 122 are past due for replacement, leaving roughly 84% of county assets in need of near‑term attention. He also reported 17 physical servers and 34 virtual servers at the county data center.

Goldsmith explained the practical and legal pressures behind the inventory, saying the county must follow FBI CJIS (Criminal Justice Information Services) standards via Texas DPS and that unsupported operating systems such as Windows 10 would fail a CJIS audit. “Anything that the county has that is still Windows 10 would not pass the state security standards that the county is legally required to pass,” he said.

The consultant urged phasing replacements across fiscal years to avoid a single large shock to the budget and recommended creating an IT department code in the county accounting system so the court can track IT spending in one place. He also outlined likely per‑unit costs and warranty recommendations, noting some vendor estimates and recent price volatility in hardware.

The court discussed funding options and the timing of a replacement schedule during budget season; Goldsmith said the county could budget conservatively per workstation and aim to spread purchases across two fiscal years to ease the cost burden.