a. The State Court Administrator, the State Probation Administrator or his or her designee, has the authority to approve contracts for the purchase or lease of electronic communications devices, and the accompanying services under which the Administrative Office of the Courts and Probation is the official "customer"  to be billed. All purchases/leases of this type of equipment/services will be made through NSC-IT or the OCIO.

   b. The judicial branch may provide employees with computer equipment and appropriate licensed software for business use. The hiring manager is responsible for ensuring that purchase of any software and/or hardware for use by an employee conforms to the needs of the position. Hiring managers must follow procedures for requesting hardware/software through NSC-IT. Technology provided by the judicial branch for use in county courthouses will follow a set of published standards.

   c. The judicial branch may provide employees with mobile devices with a data plan for use in conducting official business outside the workplace when there is a significant business-related reason for doing so. Hiring managers must follow procedures for requesting mobile devices through NSC-IT.

   d. The judicial branch will only procure electronic payment services, either online or point-of-sale, that have been approved through the State of Nebraska's contract process. These contracts shall ensure that the provider is fully PCI-DSS compliant and is subject to annual reviews of compliance status.

   e. It is best practice when dealing with IT services to negotiate a Service Level Agreement (SLA). Be sure to keep the following points in mind when negotiating the SLA. Have the SLA reviewed by our legal counsel.

   i. Full description of all services provided

   ii. Responsibilities of all parties involved

   iii. Ownership of data / programing code

   iv. Uptime requirements