The Hope Mills Board of Commissioners have made the decision to host its own records management system server for its police officers after the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office abruptly terminated its long-standing agreement with the town.
According to a news release from the town, Hope Mills had contracted with the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office since 2011 to share a records management system server and information technology services. The contract had been renewed annually over the past 13 years, until the sheriff’s office notified the town last week that it would not renew the contract, Mayor Jessie Bellflowers told CityView.
The sheriff’s office offered the town a 90-day contract so the Hope Mills Police Department could transfer data from its servers, the release states. That contract began July 2, according to the release.
The Hope Mills Board of Commissioners held a special meeting Friday to address the issue. Mayor Pro Tem Kenjuana McCray was not present to vote but called in to the meeting. The board unanimously approved spending just under $300,000 on a contract with CentralSquare, a Florida-based software company. Police Chief Stephen Dollinger said the police department already works with CentralSquare for its record management system, but did not clarify further its relationship with the company.
Town Manager Chancer McLaughlin said the town was not required to issue a request for proposals because that requirement can be waived “in emergency situations.” According to the UNC School of Government, local governments can, but are not required to, issue requests for proposals for information technology purchases.
The proposed budget ordinance amendment for the town’s fiscal year 2024-25 budget states the cost will come from the town’s fund balance.
What triggered the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office’s change of heart remains unclear. Questions sent by CityView to the sheriff’s office remained unanswered as of Tuesday evening, and McLaughlin did not respond to a request for comment.
Bellflowers said he viewed the change in server ownership as an important measure the town should have taken long ago.
“We’re being very proactive to do this,” Bellflowers said.
Recent meetings of the Hope Mills Board of Commissioners have been marked by tension between Cumberland County Sheriff Ennis Wright and the town’s public officials. Bellflowers and Commissioners Joanne Scarola and Bryan Marley had choice words for Wright at a June meeting about the sheriff’s sudden choice to pull school resource officers and crossing guards from many public schools. CityView previously reported on a heated memorandum Dollinger sent to McLaughlin about the SRO conundrum.
Bellflowers gave a public apology to Wright at the July 1 Board of Commissioners meeting, as CityView previously reported. The next day, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office posted apology letters from Bellflowers and Dollinger on its Facebook page.
Both letters include requests for the Sheriff’s Office to give Hope Mills at least six months to transfer its data.
“Over the next 6 months, we are planning to purchase a server to manage the data and respectfully, just asking for time while we purchase a server and complete the data transfer process,” Bellflowers wrote.
In his letter, Dollinger asked the sheriff to allow the town to stay on the sheriff’s office’s server until the end of the year.
“I am respectfully asking you to reconsider only the timing of our removal from the server, and request that the Town of Hope Mills be allowed to remain on the server until the end of this year to complete the transfer of all our data efficiently,” he wrote.
The town began transferring that data Monday, according to Bellflowers. It is unclear how long that transfer will take.