Senate approves substitute to clarify 911 location reporting for hotels and multi-tenant systems

Senators on Day 3 of the 2017 Utah legislative session moved a first substitute to Senate Bill 14 aimed at ensuring emergency dispatchers can identify the unit or room where a 911 call originates from hotels and multi-tenant office buildings.

Senator Harper, the bill sponsor, told colleagues the substitute corrects incorrect citations and numbering, adds an effective date and clarifies requirements for PBX and other phone-system transitions. "This is a health and safety issue," Harper said, describing cases where dispatchers have an address but not a unit or floor number when calls come from upgraded phone systems.

During a brief question-and-answer period a senator asked whether the measure applies to cell phones; the sponsor replied, "That's correct. It does not [apply to cell phones]." The sponsor said the substitute accommodates the typical three-to-five-year transition to updated phone technology and allows hotels or offices to post interim instructions if they do not immediately transition.

The Senate voted by roll call to read the first substitute for a third time. The clerk reported the substitute received 26 "yay" votes, 0 "nay" votes and 3 members absent. The motion to proceed to third reading was adopted; no amendment to the substitute was recorded on the floor.

The bill sponsor and proponents framed the change as a technical but urgent improvement to emergency response capabilities. The measure will move forward under the Senate rules for third-reading consideration and final passage.