Scott County, Kentucky – Scott County Government was recently awarded $446,900 by the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security. This grant will be used to further protect and strengthen Scott County Government’s computer network and provide cost efficiencies through a centralized management system. This system will allow for enhanced security, scalability, simplified management, connectivity between locations, improved data protection, improved disaster recovery, and staff security training. Scott County is pleased to receive this grant award to improve computer and network security for our staff and citizens of Scott County. County Judge Executive Joe Pat Covington and the Fiscal Court have made it a priority to pursue grant funding to offset costs of needed projects and be good stewards of general fund dollars. This grant along with the recent awards from other grants that include the NTIA $ 3.1 M for Broadband deployment, KPDI $ 2.0 M total for local and regional economic development, Assistance to Firefighters Grant for equipment $180,000 and TAP for the Legacy Trail extension $3.9 M Grants amount to app. 9.2 M dollars in awards to Scott County.

Magistrate David Livingston shares, “Working with public entities in my career, I see on a regular basis the danger of being hacked or held by ransomware. This Cyber Security grant is another example of how Scott County Government staff, Judge Covington and the Fiscal Court search for federal or state funds to cover costs of important projects to protect taxpayers. This allows our locally collected tax dollars to continue working on quality of life issues and keep some of the lowest county tax rates in Kentucky.”

Magistrate Chad Wallace said, “Being awarded the cybersecurity grant is phenomenal! This funding would allow the Scott County government to be able to protect sensitive information, operate our systems with the highest levels of security, and further affirm the citizens’ trust with their government.”

Judge Executive Joe Pat Covington states, “I am proud of the Fiscal Courts efforts to be proactive in pursuing this grant to do all we can to protect our vital network infrastructure from cyber attack and hacking. This award will allow us to use general fund dollars in other areas of need for the county. I appreciate the work of Chip Clark and Michele Ray and all of our staff that make our grant applications competitive.”