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Spokane to launch city-run 911 center under interlocal agreement with county and regional dispatch
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Summary
City and county officials announced an interlocal agreement to transition some 911 services to a city-operated Spokane United 911 center over a two-year phase-in, aiming for full implementation in January 2028 and promising no interruption to emergency calls.
Spokane will build a city-run 911 call center and phase operations over two years under an interlocal agreement the city, Spokane County and Spokane Regional Emergency Communications (Shrek) announced at a joint news event. Mayor Lisa Brown said the plan ensures uninterrupted emergency service and places “public safety” first.
“This agreement allows for high quality 9 1 1 services to continue uninterrupted into the future,” said Chief Cody Rohrbach, chair of Spokane Regional Emergency Communications and fire chief for Spokane County Fire District 3, adding that the SREC board, county commissioners and the city supported the measure unanimously.
Under the agreement, the city will assume call taking, dispatch and report-writing responsibilities for Spokane Police and Spokane Fire within city limits over a transition period that officials said will take roughly two years, with a target to establish the Spokane United 911 network by January 2028. The parties said the plan includes key operational milestones intended to preserve redundancy and mutual aid between city and county systems.
County Commissioner Chris Jordan said the deal resolves long-standing disputes about how sales and excise taxes that fund 911 are apportioned. He said revenues ultimately will be shared based on where tax dollars are generated once the state Department of Revenue produces the requested tax-origination data. As an interim measure for the excise tax, officials said they will allocate funds by population until DOR data is available; sales-tax apportionment uses existing calculations.
Laurie Mark, executive director for Spokane Regional Emergency Communications, advised residents that changes to the crime-check phone number are a later milestone. “Any change to crime check won’t occur until at least 2026,” she said, and urged the public to continue using the current crime-check number for now.
Officials stressed that callers should not notice a disruption. Mayor Brown and Chief Rohrbach said next-generation 911 technology and geolocation capabilities, along with shared computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems and cross-training, will allow calls near jurisdictional boundaries to be routed and handled without delay. Rohrbach described multiple layers of redundancy — “a backup to the backup” — and said the parties will test systems and communicate transitions publicly and to first responders before any cutovers.
Speakers repeatedly framed the agreement as a win for residents and first responders and said it avoids potential legal fights that might have threatened service continuity. Council President Betsy Wilkerson described closed, intensive negotiations that yielded the people-first agreement and thanked call takers and dispatchers for their work.
Next steps officials described include completing the phased milestones in the agreement, obtaining necessary tax-origination data from the Department of Revenue, conducting interoperability testing between the two primary PSAPs, and publicly announcing final switch dates. In the meantime, residents should continue to use current emergency and crime-check numbers until officials announce specific changes.
