Board expands RICO expenditure authority as public urges more transparency on surveillance spending and PRR backlogs

The board unanimously approved expanded RICO (forfeiture) expenditure authority for items 157–163 after extended public comment urging greater transparency about how forfeiture money is spent.

Multiple community speakers cited quarterly RICO reports that list large categories such as "electronics," "software," and "surveillance," and flagged line items including about $475,000 for software developer services and roughly $353,000 for camera‑related upgrades in prior reports. Roger Mate, Leslie Shepard and others urged the board to require clearer pre‑authorization disclosures about what categories and technologies would be funded before additional authority is granted.

County counsel and staff explained that while the board reviews whether requests meet statutory requirements, the county attorney’s office and outside counsel manage RICO disbursements; counsel also described why public records requests for body‑worn camera video can take long to fulfill. "To redact out the names and the faces of innocent people in video is extraordinarily time‑consuming and extraordinarily expensive," the county attorney’s representative told the board, noting that constitutional and appellate priorities (including capital cases) require significant redaction work that stretches resources.

Members of the public urged the board to direct some forfeiture funds toward addressing the public‑records backlog; several speakers noted that body‑cam redaction teams were short‑staffed relative to demand. The board approved the RICO items and directed staff to continue oversight and provide explanatory materials about categories and controls.