Sheriff outlines records system upgrade and staffing efforts as committee approves contracts, grants and service bids

Sheriff Scott Ciccarello told the Public Safety Committee on June 4 that Allegany County is finalizing a consolidated records-management system from Tyler Technologies that will link dispatch CAD data and incident reporting across county agencies to provide real-time information to officers.

"It increases officer safety and awareness in addition to the benefits of having all of the information in one place at one time," Sheriff Ciccarello said, thanking the committee and county leadership for approving the purchase with ARPA funds.

Ciccarello also outlined ongoing recruitment and retention challenges in law enforcement and said county HR and administration have taken steps to streamline hiring processes.

The committee approved several items related to sheriff operations and county public safety services at the meeting:
- A budget transfer of $53,400 (motion carried).
- Authorization to apply for the 2024–2025 Statewide Interoperable Communications Targeted Grant from the Department of Homeland Security (motion carried).
- Approval to fill three part-time cook positions vacated by resignations (motion carried).

Separately, county administration asked the committee to authorize an agreement with Medical Transport Services (MTS) to run July 1–Dec. 31, with a not-to-exceed amount of $495,000 for the six-month term (an annualized amount cited as $990,000). The presentation said $390,000 of the cost would come from unanticipated fund balance; the motion to approve the agreement carried with no substantive discussion.

County administration also presented permission to advertise a request for proposals (RFP) for food services for incarcerated persons at the county jail. The RFP will seek bids for multiple options, including using outside vendors, using the jail kitchen facility, and including dietary services such as a dietitian to meet corrections dietary requirements referenced in the discussion. Committee members discussed whether vendor interest would be sufficient and whether, in the future, the jail could provide meals for other county programs such as Office for the Aging; the sheriff said using jail staff for such services would be a separate, more detailed discussion.

Chairman Harris and county staff said personnel from the county administrator’s office, HR and other departments have been supporting recruitment and the records-management rollout.