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Brazos County hires consultant for law enforcement software program [The Eagle, Bryan, Texas]
[September 19, 2014]

Brazos County hires consultant for law enforcement software program [The Eagle, Bryan, Texas]


(Eagle (Bryan, TX) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sept. 19--A consultant out of Waco recently was hired by Brazos County officials to manage and maintain progress of the selection of a new justice software program after the county lost $2.6 million to a contracted software development company that abruptly announced an end to its services in June.



The consultant, William Agee, will work with a committee of elected officials and department heads who are attempting to find and contract with a software company that can install the programs they need by December 2015, said Brazos County Judge Duane Peters.

Agee will be paid $950 a day plus expenses and is expected to work for the county seven to 10 days a month, Peters said.


"What we wanted was somebody that can make sure we're on track," Peters said. "Right now, Dec. 31, 2015 is the drop-dead date we need something done and in place." Knowing that December 2015 was when the company the county currently uses for justice software, Tyler Technologies, planned to end its agreement with Brazos County, officials began searching for a new solution three years ago and, in November 2011, hired Virginia-based company American Cadastre LLC, or AMCAD, to design custom software that would meet the needs of all county officials who utilize justice software.

The total cost of the contract was $3.7 million, with a $1 million licensing fee required within the first 30 days. The contract stipulated the county would make incremental payments as design and development on the project progressed.

AMCAD programmers were coming into town about once a month to work with county officials on the project, Peters said. A few weeks before pulling out of the justice software business entirely, AMCAD representatives told the officials they were several months behind schedule and hadn't produced anything they could hand over to the county.

Since then, a committee that includes sheriff's office representatives, the district attorney, the county attorney, the district clerk, judges and others has been discussing the best possible solution considering the conditions.

So far, two possible options have been discussed: purchasing an already-integrated software system, which is what is currently used, or contracting with several software companies to get the packages best suited for each department.

The latter option, being called "the best of breed" option by officials, likely would require the county to hire someone to develop integration software to connect the different department software programs and enable them to communicate.

Peters said he's hopeful the committee can choose which direction it wants to go in within the next week so Agee can create a schedule of things that need to be done to put the county in the position it needs to be in come December 2015.

Agee was recommended to the Commissioners Court by the county purchasing director and the facilities director who recently attended a project management seminar at which Agee was one of the presenters, Peters said.

"He really impressed both of them with his knowledge on being able to keep projects going in spite of a lot of problems," Peters said.

Agee's hiring agreement with the county stipulates either party can terminate the partnership with seven days notice.

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