Information Technology

The Information Technology Department is responsible for the day to day computer operations for the Clerk of Courts and the Highlands County Board of County Commissioners. In addition, the Clerk’s IT Department provides financial application support to the Highlands County Sheriff, Tax Collector, Property Appraiser, and the Supervisor of Elections. By combining resources and services, the IT Department has been instrumental in leading the way for service consolidation among County agencies, thereby creating more efficient and cost-effective processes.

Recent Accomplishments
Entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Highlands County EMS Department to provide all IT services and support. All County EMS Stations are now connected to the County Datacenter thereby allowing for ease of information access and timely EMS report submission.

Implementation of an automated time control application for the Clerk of Courts leading to a reduction of over 200 man hours annually.

Installation and implementation of a document management system for the Highlands County Building Department enabling the Building Department to operate more efficiently with fewer staff.

Installation of a Datacenter in a Row that has reduced the datacenter energy costs on an average of 12% per month.

Installation of an eRecording application enabling the ability to electronically record documents with the Clerk of Courts. This application creates a cost savings for both the Clerk of Courts and those entities needing to record documents, by reducing travel to the Clerks office, as well as the quick and timely submission of documents for recording.

Formation of an IT Governance Council to help manage the strategic direction of the County’s IT resources.

Implementation of a Voice over IP (VOIP) telephony system which enables the ability of all County offices to communicate on a common system.

Pending/In Progress Projects:
Further development of the document management application for the Clerks Human Resources Department, Board of County Commissioners Contract workflow, and Code Enforcement/Zoning.

Implementation of a new state wide Court Case Management System which will allow for the electronic filing of all Court documents and Internet access to non-confidential Court record images.

Implementation of a Road and Highway maintenance application which will allow for the automated cost tracking for Road maintenance and repairs. In addition, this application will enable the tracking of state mandated sign reflectivity and replacement lifecycles.

Entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Highlands County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to provide all IT services and support. This is another consolidation effort to reduce the need for duplicate IT systems and resources.

Consolidation of the Geographic Information System (GIS) into the County Enterprise system for the added value and benefit for Countywide consolidation of GIS.

Installation of a Datacenter in a Row for the Emergency Operations Center, allowing for added data protection and replication of data between the Government Center and the EOC.

Data vaulting agreement with the Florida Association of Court Clerks (FACC) for the offsite storage of critical County data to meet state mandated requirements.

Implementation of a Clerk of Courts and Board of County Commissioners Records Management Policy.

Conversion of all County and Agency databases to a common robust database architecture.

Strategic Direction
With the continuing growth of Highlands County, it is important that all local government agencies be able to continue providing a quality level of service to county residents. With the aid of advanced technologies, the IT Department is helping to create process efficiencies and provide easier access to needed services.