CSA Weekly Update (09.25.2026)
On the September 25th, 2026, edition of the CSA Update:
Energy & Data Center Learning Series: Roles in the Citing Process
County Basics: From Statute to Service
22nd Annual CSA Policy Summit: Roadmap to the Summit
Lifelong Learning: Upcoming NACo Webinars
CSA at the 2026 NACo Energy Symposium
This week, September 23-25, 2026, CSA staff and supervisors attended NACo's 2026 Energy Symposium in Texas. Attendees were able to hear from experts, exchange ideas with peers and gain practical insights into the policies, projects and partnerships driving the future of energy development. This served as an opportunity to gain insights, partnerships and strategies needed to lead in a rapidly changing energy landscape.
Energy & Data Center Learning Series: Roles in the Siting Process
CSA in partnership with Local First hosted their second installment of their Energy and Data Center Learning Series.
Attendees were able to learn about the various roles in the siting process from different perspectives, including Idaho Power County Commissioner, Kryst Krein, and Local First Direct of Sustainable Initiatives, Jason Lowry. Speakers discussed what the siting process looks like at the county/state level as well as its impact on various stakeholders such as the Arizona Corporation Commission, Arizona Department of Water Resources, and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, to name a few.
We look forward to our next Learning Series, which will be hosted on Thursday, October 1st, and will be focusing on developing energy siting ordinances.
In case you missed it: The full meeting was recorded, and is available on our youtube!
Need to Know: Summit Topics
There will likely be much deliberation and conversation at this year's Policy Summit. Below we've provided a refresher on some of the more prevalent issues counties are facing this year:
Transportation
In 2025, CSA approved and adopted a resolution urging state lawmakers to enact long-term funding solutions to support state and local transportation infrastructure.
We also have extensive transportation funding research and resources on our website.
Pension Reform
In 2025, CSA approved and adopted a resolution to protect historic investments in public safety pensions and requesting that state lawmakers exercise restraint in enacting policies that increase costs or modify contributions to the system.
We also have extensive pension research and resources on our website.
Court Funding
In 2025, CSA approved and adopted a resolution to provide sufficient state funding for probation and the courts.
We also have extensive court funding research and resources on our website.
County Basics: From Statute to Service
With our Policy Summit on the Horizon, it's never a bad time to brush up on some of the issues we know are crucial to counties! Check out our older Creatures of Statute podcast - County Basics: From Statute to Service - as well as support documents below!
In this episode, we break down the basics of county government in Arizona—because while every Arizonan lives in a county and relies on county services, few truly know what counties do.
Counties are the quiet workhorses of government: building, maintaining, protecting, and serving communities every single day.
To learn more about county government in Arizona, check out our overview here.
22nd Annual CSA Policy Summit: Roadmap to the Summit
As the legislative session draws closer, the Association has begun preparations for the 22nd Annual Policy Summit. The Association’s Policy Summit is where the state’s collective county supervisors decide on their legislative, budget, and research priorities for the upcoming year. In preparation for the summit, the Association has prepared 6 resolutions that, if approved, will serve as guiding documents for staff in the upcoming year. Additionally, the counties have submitted a combined 29 policy and resolution proposals that will be deliberated by the Board to determine the Association’s legislative agenda for 2027.
To see where we are on the road to CSA’s annual policy summit, please see the graphic below!
Lifelong Learning: Upcoming NACo Webinars
Cyber Forecast 2027: AI, Risk, and What County Leaders Need to Know
Thursday, October 1, 2026 | 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. ET
AI is here, and cybersecurity needs to be part of the plan. It's a budget, workforce, and public trust conversation, and 2027 is set to raise the stakes further.
Join CAI and other county leaders for a forward-looking briefing on the threats and technologies set to define the year ahead: AI-powered social engineering and deepfakes that are getting cheaper and more convincing, and the emergence of "agentic AI" as both a new attack surface and a defensive tool. The early warning signs of quantum-era encryption risk, and the ease of entry for threat actors due to AI is pushing more counties toward automation, cloud adoption, and managed services.
This session translates high-level industry forecasts into a plain-language outlook built specifically for county leaders, so your organization can budget, staff, and plan with confidence heading into 2027.
Key Takeaways
Recognize the amplified and new threat surfaces. Understand how AI accelerates social engineering at scale with personalized phishing and impersonation, while creating new vulnerabilities through agentic AI itself—both in attackers’ hands and embedded in systems counties are adopting.
Get ahead of quantum-era risk. Learn the early warning signs of quantum-related encryption vulnerabilities and why counties should start planning now, not after the threat matures.
Understand why the barrier to attack is falling. See how AI is lowering the skill and cost required for threat actors to target counties, and what that means for your risk exposure.
Prepare through practice, not just planning. Learn how to take a new approach to cyber defenses by running tabletop cyber simulations that test response to AI-driven attacks, and by piloting agentic AI tools in controlled settings before full deployment.
Speakers
Rex Johnson, Vice President, Cybersecurity Services, CAI
Rita Reynolds, Director of Public Sector, CAI
To register, click here.
NACo Policy Insider Webinar Series: Understanding the Federal Landscape for Counties
Thursday, October 8, 2026 | 3:30 p.m. - 4 p.m. ET
Last year's Inside Washington series is now NACo Policy Insider, a bi-weekly webinar offering an overview of the full federal policy landscape impacting counties, as well as deeper dives into specific policy areas, equipping county leaders with insights, context, and strategies to engage effectively on key issues from transportation and infrastructure, to public lands, to health and human services, and more.
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