District Attorney urges Axon subscription to host evidence; court earmarks $1.60/user in budget discussion

Summary

The DA's office described a need to move 14 years of evidence data off third‑party servers or become a paying subscriber; the office said Axon offered the most functional discovery/distribution platform and that the county currently spends about $73,000/year on data‑transfer licensing — a cost that could be offset by subscription savings over server‑replacement expenditures. The court discussed procurement and signaled a future agenda item to approve an agreement.

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District Attorney's Office representatives briefed the Commissioners Court on options for long‑term digital evidence storage and discovery platforms. The DA's office said it learned Axon had audited its servers and flagged the county as a nonpaying customer; the office explored alternatives and concluded Axon provided both competitive pricing and integrated discovery/dissemination tools the county needs.

The DA's representative told the court the county currently spends about $73,000 per year on a data‑transfer software license and that Axon could assume server/storage responsibilities and avoid periodic server replacement costs (estimated at roughly $300,000 when purchased every five years). The DA's office presented subscription cost comparisons that ranged from about $125,000 to $225,000 annually for other vendors and suggested a 10‑year average of about $160,000 per year for the Axon subscription as cheaper than repeated server purchases.

Commissioners discussed procurement avenues (co‑ops/ByBOR) and potential partial offsets from forfeiture funds; they also raised concerns about court‑appointed defense counsel who might ultimately pay user fees that the county would cover. The court indicated the formal agreement could return on a future meeting agenda for approval; staff noted the implementation agenda item may be required by Oct. 1.