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Sedgwick County 911 seeks phased staff increase, tech upgrades to separate call taking from dispatching
Summary
Laura Forshey, director of Emergency Communications, asked commissioners to fund a phased separation of 911 call-taking from radio dispatching (phase 1: 20 FTEs in 2026; phase 2: another 18 in 2027), plus phone consoles, a tracking system, accreditation management and public‑education tools.
Laura Forshey, director of Sedgwick County Emergency Communications, told the Board of County Commissioners the division is asking for a phased staffing model and several technology and accreditation investments to implement recommendations from an outside review.
“We want to take a phased approach to this, and we are asking for 20 FTEs for next year to start moving into this separation of call taking and dispatching,” Forshey said, describing phase 1 for 2026 and a second phase to complete the model in 2027. She said the separation would reduce dual-tasking for dispatchers and help preserve a standard of answering 90% of calls within 15 seconds.
Forshey presented five decision packages: 20 FTEs (phase 1) to separate call-taking from dispatching; additional phone consoles; a $20,000 tracking/ticketing system for partners to report CAD, radio or operational issues; an accreditation manager to coordinate multidisciplinary accreditation; and public‑education and customer‑feedback software that can text callers selectively. Forshey estimated the set of packages at “a little over $2,000,000” and said the personnel components would be funded with property tax rather than 911 tax revenues because state rules limit 911 tax uses.
Commissioners asked for options to phase or reprioritize lower-cost items such as the tracking system, asked whether existing county IT systems could be used, and discussed legislative limits on the 911 fee. Forshey said county IT told her an in-house solution could not provide external users viewing access; that motivated the $20,000 vendor option. She also referenced Jensen Hughes and a Brook Hollow follow-up as drivers of recommended improvements.
Forshey described operational constraints beyond staffing: limited locker and restroom space, cybersecurity risks tied to more technology, and the fixed nature of the 9-1-1 tax (a voter/legislative issue). Commissioners expressed support for the separation model but asked staff to consider phasing and to work with the new county CIO on the tracking-system approach.
