Dodge County Agency’s Continue To Sign On With Spillman

(Juneau) Fourteen of the 17 municipal police departments in Dodge County have now signed on to Spillman, the records management system that is intended to connect law enforcement countywide. Included in the 14 are the cities of Fox Lake, Horicon, Juneau, and Mayville.   In comparison, only two departments in addition to the sheriff’s office are on New World, the county’s current records management system, which has reportedly been plagued with issues since going live in 2013.  In 2015, the county board agreed to spend $1,100,000 to purchase Spillman software, which is expected to go live in Dodge County this December.  While each municipality that signs on to Spillman will have to pay $700 per officer in training costs in 2017 and $280 per departmental computer in maintenance fees each year starting in 2019, the county is offering municipalities the software free of charge.  Sheriff Dale Schmidt says finances have played a key role for municipalities as Spillman is the same cost, if not cheaper, than their current systems, which would likely require costly upgrades in the near future to meet federal requirements.  Schmidt says the new software will allow an agency to access name files of any Spillman user in Wisconsin, off which there are over 70.  He says that’s not the case with many municipalities’ current systems, which are connected to very few, if any, agencies.  Schmidt says he is in negotiations with the three remaining municipalities, the City of Beaver Dam, the Town of Fox Lake, and the Village of Theresa, and hopes deals will be finalized in the next few months.  The sheriff says any organizations that do not commit prior to this summer’s training will likely see higher costs if they decide to join at a later date.