Houston city council to vote on extending contract for ‘antiquated’ records system

Houston City Council is set to vote Wednesday on extending its contract for a records management system Houston police once called “antiquated.”

The contract extension, for the police records system by Centralsquare Technologies, would run until November and cost taxpayers $1.7 million.

In 2023, the city paid $31 million for a new record system by Versaterm.

It was originally supposed to launch in late 2024 and then in early 2025, but now the launch date has apparently been pushed back again.

The Centralsquare system is perhaps best known for its role in the 2024 suspended cases scandal.

Since 2016, more than 260,000 workable cases have been marked suspended due to a lack of personnel.

Former police chief Troy Finner previously said that the suspended code was part and parcel of the Centralsquare system.

“People ask about the code. Why was the code not removed? It’s hardwired to that system. If we try to remove that code, then our system crashes,” he said in 2024.

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