Brazos County Adopts Artificial Intelligence Use Policy

Brazos County has adopted a policy governing how county employees may use artificial intelligence tools, adding local rules around data protection, human review, public records and technology procurement.

Commissioners approved the AI guidelines at their June 23 meeting with no opposition. The item came from the county’s IT Department, led by CIO Eric Caldwell. Agenda materials described the policy as a framework to govern the use of AI on county information resources.

The county said the policy is intended to protect county data from unauthorized access, reduce reputational risk and maximize the benefits of AI while minimizing risk to county business. Agenda materials list no fiscal impact.

The policy applies to authorized users of county information resources who use third-party or internally developed AI tools. It covers use of AI to support county business, use of anonymous or non-county-managed accounts on county resources and county-managed AI accounts, including accounts created with a Brazos County-issued email address.

Under the policy, county users may not submit protected or confidential data to public AI tools. That includes protected health information, personally identifiable information, criminal justice information, proprietary information, confidential financial information and third-party contact details. The policy also instructs users not to name or specify Brazos County when using AI tools to create work material.

The policy places responsibility for final work product on county employees, regardless of how much AI assistance was used. It says AI tools may not independently make final governmental, legal, personnel, procurement, financial, enforcement or policy decisions without human review and authorization.

The document also addresses AI meeting assistants, warning that transcripts and summaries can become public records subject to county retention policies. It says an employee may not send an AI attendant to attend a meeting on the employee’s behalf.

County employees with an email or computer account must complete basic AI training annually. The policy also says Brazos County may monitor AI tool use on county resources and that user inputs and outputs may be subject to the Texas Public Information Act.

The policy points to how counties are starting to formalize expectations around AI use before individual tools are widely deployed. The Brazos County policy covers procurement, employee training, prohibited tools, public records and oversight, giving technology providers a clearer view of the controls local governments may require as AI becomes part of day-to-day operations.