Harris County Approves $14.7M in Technology Items

Harris County commissioners approved technology-related contracts, amendments and spending authorizations valued at about $14.7 million Thursday, advancing work involving toll collection, cloud infrastructure, public safety systems, enterprise software, telecommunications and data management.

The figure includes contract renewals, additional authorizations and a settlement for previously delivered software and related services. It excludes approved items whose agenda captions did not state a value.

Among the largest approvals was an $8.6 million agreement with TransCore for maintenance of the Harris County Toll Road Authority’s roadside toll collection systems. Commissioners also approved about $915,000 for Parata correctional pharmacy automation equipment and maintenance.

Public health and laboratory technology accounted for several approvals. The court renewed an $829,000 agreement with Hach Company for wastewater surveillance equipment and testing. Commissioners also approved $220,000 for a QIAGEN extraction and purification robot used by the Institute of Forensic Sciences genetics laboratory.

Enterprise technology approvals included $540,000 through Carahsoft Technology Corp. for data storage, document-redaction licenses and a Freedom of Information Act module. The court also approved $270,000 for a UKG TeleStaff cloud workforce-scheduling subscription, $209,000 for a Nutanix cloud infrastructure subscription through CDW Government and $396,000 for Everbridge and xMatters software used by the Toll Road Authority.

Universal Services received approval for $249,000 in network security hardware and software from Netsync Network Solutions and $110,000 in IT research and advisory services from Info-Tech Research Group. The Office of the County Engineer received approval for a $63,000 Granicus software renewal.

Other countywide and departmental purchases included $89,000 for Grammarly Business subscription services and $124,000 for SolarWinds software, monitoring, maintenance and licenses. The agenda also included IBM TRIRIGA workplace management software and storage-area network and object-storage products from Computacenter.

Public safety technology accounted for several additional items. Commissioners approved $285,000 for IntelliTime time and attendance software used by the Sheriff’s Office and $49,000 for LexisNexis law enforcement subscription services.

The court also approved a $99,000 settlement with Pen-Link involving open-source intelligence software and related services previously provided to the Sheriff’s Office, an additional $62,000 for DroneSense services for Constable Precinct 5 and a $371,000 Versaterm LIMS-Plus forensic laboratory information management system.

Commissioners approved an amendment to Harris County’s agreement with Flock Group for automated license plate readers and sound-detection technology. The amendment, listed on page 34, did not add funding but supplemented the contract’s terms and made the agreement available for countywide use.

Residents urged commissioners to cancel the Flock agreement during public comment, citing concerns about privacy, data access, immigration enforcement and publicly visible safeguards. The amendment remained on the consent agenda and was approved without a separate discussion.

Additional approvals covered a $480,000 Rapid Financial Solutions juror payment system, ServiceNow implementation work for the county’s 311 constituent relationship management system, a Deaf Link emergency notification service, a CaseWorthy case management system and an integrated library system from SirsiDynix. The ServiceNow amendment did not increase the contract amount.

Commissioners also approved an agreement allowing the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General to use county communications systems and a data-sharing agreement with the Association of Food and Drug Officials. The court rejected proposals for P25 radio repair services and authorized the county to seek new submissions.

One identified technology item did not advance. Purchasing requested no action on an agreement with Accenture for analysis, planning and enhancement work involving the county’s juvenile justice casework system.

Editor's note: Part of this story was drafted by generative AI and edited by humans for accuracy, bias and clarity. Have feedback? Send it to Ben Miller.