Board hears that sheriff radios failed state audit; commissioners consider phased replacements

County staff told commissioners the sheriff's mobile and handheld radios are not compliant with a new state requirement for encrypted communications and that both this county and a neighboring county recently failed a state audit on that issue. The staff representative said the county needs to replace radios and discussed options for phased purchases to avoid a single large expense.

“Both our county... are noncompliant. In fact, they both just failed the state audit on that last week,” staff said, noting short-term upgrades to some radios could extend life cycles while the board phases replacement over multiple budget years. Commissioners discussed whether some purchases could be made this year to reduce next year's budget pressure and directed staff to include radio replacement planning in upcoming budget materials.