Walton County planning staff and SWIFTGov presented results from an AI-assisted building-permit review pilot and proposed expanding the service to additional permit types to cut review times and standardize code interpretation.

Sabrina Dugan, managing partner at SWIFTGov, told the board the AI system had processed dozens of single-family and multifamily permit reviews in the county, reporting an average AI turnaround of around four minutes for single-family reviews and high accuracy on townhome reviews as reviewed by county staff. Dugan said the platform standardizes checklist items, surfaces recurring friction points in code interpretations, and provides a transparency dashboard that staff and applicants can use to track review comments.

Planning leadership said the county has already onboarded multiple reviewers to the system and that SWIFTGov credits are being allocated to reviewers for targeted use; staff described a potential contract amendment or change order to expand the relationship while the county legal and procurement teams verify whether a new solicitation is required. Commissioners praised the gains in turnaround time but emphasized the need to review procurement history (piggyback vs open solicitation) and to ensure that expansion does not limit competitive access.

No formal procurement action was taken at the meeting; staff said they would review the contract and return with a recommended path for expansion and any required procurement steps.