Police Jury authorizes 9‑1‑1 director to sign AT&T lease rewrite after service issues

The DeSoto Parish Police Jury voted to authorize the 9‑1‑1 director to sign a rewritten five‑year lease with AT&T, a move staff said restarts an agreement that had provided about 18 months of service while certain new contract positions went unused.

A 9‑1‑1 staff presenter told jurors the county renewed equipment and added three new positions in mid‑2023; AT&T later provided services for those positions without billing during an 18‑month period, which the presenter estimated saved the parish roughly $200,000. "It was a windfall for us," the presenter said, describing the system as working and the rewrite as a way to start a fresh five‑year contract with the same interest rate.

The presenter asked that legal review occur before final execution and raised a separate funding issue tied to a cooperative endeavor agreement (CEA). He said the sheriff's office purchased a new CAD system and upgraded digital radios — investments the sheriff has not billed the communications district for — and proposed rescinding a $24,000 annual CEA charge that had been intended to cover three positions tied to the lease.

Board members discussed whether the CEA rescission was properly before the body and one member recommended placing any formal rescission on the next agenda as a separate item so amounts could be confirmed. The jury voted to authorize the director to sign the lease rewrite; staff committed to prepare accounting details and a revised CEA for board consideration.

Next steps: staff will obtain legal review of the rewritten contract and return with a draft CEA amendment or rescission and supporting numbers at the next meeting.