Jefferson County Considers Providing IT Services To Gage County

By Gordon Hopkins “They don't have near the level of technology that we have here.” That was the assessment of Jefferson County IT (Information Technology) director Brad Eisenhauer of nearby Gage County's Sheriff's Office. This is despite the fact that Gage County has a population roughly three times that of Jefferson. Gage County had an estimated population of 21,513 in 2019, compared to Jefferson County at 7,144, according to the U.S. Census.Sheriff Millard Gustafson has approached Eisenhauer about the possibility of Jefferson County providing IT services to Gage County. Eisenhauer discussed the matter at a County Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, September 28, “What Sheriff Gustafson is asking for is basically IT support, just for the Sheriff's Office would not be for the courthouse at all. So it would be the Sheriff's Office and the jail.”Gage County currently does not have anyone on staff that provides IT support. Eisenhauer said that, because Gage County does not have the same level of technology as Jefferson County, “They don't have enough work to justify that.”However, some IT support is still required. One advantage Jefferson County IT has that an outside IT services may not is familiarity with the sort of systems used by Gage County. Eisenhauer said, “He (Sheriff Gustafson) had asked us to do it, a lot for the fact that we have a pretty in depth knowledge of IT for law enforcement and corrections. They use a lot of the same systems and software that we have here.”In 2019, Jefferson County hired a second IT specialist, Jeff Nelson of Diller. Prior to working for the county, Nelson had worked for Diode Technologies for 20 years. Eisenhauer said, “Actually, when Jeff worked for Diode, a lot of that he installed for the Sheriff's Office.”Eisenhauer noted they have already provided some support to Gage County, “So with the help we've been doing on and off already for him has been been working out pretty well, that we already have an understanding of this stuff, that doesn't take as long to figure out, diagnose a problem and fix it.”Prioritizing the Workload“Obviously Jefferson County is priority,” said Eisenhauer. “So if we have a major issue here, they have a major issue over there, they have to wait. So we always, always take care of Jefferson County first.”Eisenhauer estimated the bulk of the work for Gage County could be done without travel, “Actually, the majority of the stuff can be done remotely anyhow, without traveling. So we can do it right from the office, I would say a good 80-85 percent.”For any work that requires someone on site in Gage County, Eisenhauer said, “Either Jeff or myself would stay here. Only one person would go to work on that.”So there would always be at least one person available in Jefferson County.Eisenhauer added, “Anything that we'd actually have to travel there for with hands on, for the most part could be scheduled ahead of time and kind of planned out barring any major issues, which can happen anytime.”Eisenhauer presented a draft MOU (Memorandum of Understanding). Commissioners reviewed the MOU and indicated they wanted to be included in any written agreement with Gage County that Jefferson County has priority.County Commissioner Mark Schoenrock said to Eisenhauer and Nelson, “We want to make certain we don't have unmet needs in Jefferson County before we let a very precious resource, i.e., you two, go out to do the work outside the county.”Mark Schoenrock added, “Our principal responsibility is to Jefferson County taxpayers, to make sure that we're meeting Jefferson County needs.”VehiclesOne of the major projects Sheriff Gustafson would like the IT Department to do is installing the needed equipment in a new Sheriff's vehicle. Of the time it takes to complete a vehicle, Nelson said, “Non-stop, full eight hour days, usually about a week and a half to two weeks, I can have a car done.”Eisenhauer explained how much work was involved in prepping a vehicle for use by law enforcement, “All the interior panels, headliner, everything gets pulled out to run all your wiring through and then you start building it, put it back together. So you about strip it down to a shell.”Eisenhauer said Gage County would bring the vehicles here for IT to work on.The CostsIn 2019, when Jefferson County was first investigating the possibility of hiring a second IT specialist, various funding options were explored. One idea was to share expenses with another department.Eisenhauer said the proposed charge to Gage County would be $75 an hour. If both IT specialists are working, then that charge is per person.If someone does need to travel, then mileage is additional.Schoenrock said, “I really want to make sure that Jefferson County taxpayers are not incurring extra costs by doing this, that whatever cost or effort we incur, is going to be reimbursed by Gage County.”No decisions have been made and an agreement has not been made with Gage County at this time. Jefferson County Commissioners intend to review an updated MOU at a future council meeting.

Dorothy Gudd

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