Committee clears technical questions as Civil Air Patrol, State Radio seek equipment upgrades

Bismarck — The Appropriations subcommittee reviewed requests from Civil Air Patrol and State Radio for equipment upgrades and IT redundancy to support law‑enforcement interoperability and improve emergency communications.

Lieutenant Col. Shawn Johnson, representing Civil Air Patrol operations, said the unit requires upgraded radios and related equipment and proposed a reduced funding request of $206,426 after selecting a different radio model and refining fielding plans. Johnson told the committee the final request reflected a 17% reduction from the original $250,000 ask and that the APX 6000 series radios are better tested and siren‑compatible. He said roughly 19 radios are in the fielding plan and the APX per‑unit cost (with installation and siren compatibility) is about $4,000.

State Radio and redundancy

Darren Anderson, director of State Radio, briefed members on three related items: a state radio law‑enforcement redundant switch, a recording/recorder upgrade tied to a radio system transition and a robust North Dakota emergency response website. Anderson said the redundant switch and server uplift would move critical services into the capital server room and add failover protections for web‑service calls to DOT, federal systems and court systems; the agency noted the system processes about 7 million transactions per month.

Anderson also said a previously covered cost for a response website was not a new expense but an existing cost NDIT paid and the department was asked to include in its budget. He described the site as a single point for disaster information, continuity‑of‑government communications and an architecture designed to remain up if other state sites are compromised.

Why it matters: Committee members framed the upgrades as investments in reliability for law enforcement and emergency communications. Members asked why other vendors or existing state arrangements could not provide redundancy and received an explanation that the proposed design would provide more extensive failover protections for the specific law‑enforcement query system.

Fielding and fiscal notes

- Civil Air Patrol: After refinement, the unit’s request was reduced to about $206,426 for 19 APX radios and fielding costs; the committee recorded the adjusted amount on the record.

- State Radio: Items include NDIT-managed procurements and O&M costs that were historically paid by NDIT but are now being captured in the agency’s budget. Committee members said they will review the NDIT billings as part of the fiscal review.

Ending: Members expressed support for redundancy and recording upgrades but flagged procurement and billing relationships with NDIT for further clarity. The committee recorded “okay” for several technical lines pending final budget reconciliation.