Montgomery County
What to Know:
- Montgomery County adopted the state-required artificial intelligence ethics framework and named IT Director Bobby Powell as its AI risk management official for now.
- Vendors doing AI-related business with the county, or providing data built with AI, will need to comply with state standards that Powell said must be built into contracts.
- County officials said the mandate is unfunded, likely to require a full-time role and still needs local policy details that will come back to commissioners later.
What to Know:
- The county's IT Department has requested a $39 million budget for Fiscal Year 2026.
- The preliminary budget for 2026, which is subject to change, only includes $21 million for the department.
- The largest differences between requested funds and granted preliminary funds are related to hardware, software, utilities and software maintenance.
Montgomery County will test a first response program similar to one that Pearland has in place, using drones to arrive more quickly. The ACLU has questions.
Commissioners approved the district’s budget for 2024-25, which has grown to include more staff, drones and software to improve processes and accommodate county growth.
