Rowan County recently received $163,700 from the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program. Officials announced they’d won the grant earlier this year, but now have the funds in hand to start work.
Officials said a portion of the grant will be used to enhance the Rowan County Detention Center’s firewall protection and network monitoring systems. Rowan County Judge Executive Harry Clark said few updates have been made to the jail’s network since its construction in 2018.
“We’re starting at the jail. The jail was built and opened in ‘18, but it’s not really had any updates to any of the software. Everything in there is controlled by computers, essentially. Doors, lights, cameras, all that stuff. So, we’re concentrating on it to begin with, and trying to get it up to today’s standards,” said Clark.
Clark added the planning of software improvements has long been in the works.
“We’ve already been preparing for it, with like I said, numerous meetings and plannings. So now, we’ll figure out how to do this. The big thing is trying to do it without disruption of service, and in jail, you don’t want that disruption. So, we’re planning it and pacing it so it won’t disrupt their operations,” said Clark.
Officials said the grant follows cybersecurity enhancement initiatives taken by local county governments across the state. Clark added officials are likely to contract and outsource digital advancements in the future. The grant is distributed through the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency.