Woods County urges Alfalfa County to consider consolidating 911 dispatch; officials press for cost and local‑knowledge safeguards

Ashley Woodall, the Woods County 911 coordinator, told Alfalfa County commissioners that Woods County already shares mapping and technology with neighboring jurisdictions and could house Alfalfa County dispatch operations under a virtual consolidation model.

"I'm the Woods County 911 coordinator for the state of Woods County," Woodall said, and described the county's systems: Zetron call taking, RapidSOS location integration, a Zetron CAD, GeoSafe GPS tracking, Active911 and Prepared Live for text/data with the public. She said Woods County dispatches for Woods and Grant counties, serves as a virtual backup for Harper County, and has incorporated Alfalfa County map data into its CAD.

The presentation included last‑year call counts Woodall said she had reviewed: Grant County 2,254; City of Waynoka 1,474; Woods County 4,677; and Alfalfa‑area figures Woodall presented for consolidation planning (Alfalfa County 5,120; City of Cherokee about 6,000; Town of Helena about 141). Woodall said tariff money, service fees and grants fund technology and part of personnel costs, and she recommended applying for an 80/20 consolidation grant from the state management authority to fund upgrades and radio work.

Commissioners and other participants pressed Woodall on several operational and fiscal details. Local officials asked how calls that involve multiple jurisdictions would be allocated for billing; Woodall acknowledged the issue and said the CAD can be used to produce detailed call prints and customized reports to apportion costs rather than simply "double counting" a call.

Local speakers also expressed worry about the loss of local knowledge and jobs. Woodall said current employees could apply for open positions but that Woods County expected to be able to hire only one person from a typical applicant pool and that existing partner agreements include 90‑day written‑notice clauses. On staffing, she said Woods County presently has nine full‑time and two part‑time staff, works 12‑hour shifts and often staffs a third position on high‑demand days.

Cost estimates remained provisional. Woodall said vendor quotes were pending and that equipment replacement cycles have driven maintenance costs up; she cited a prior console replacement of roughly $110,000 as context and suggested the project could involve a significant one‑time capital outlay in addition to using phone tariff revenues.

Speakers asked about emergency incident capacity; Woodall said Woods County has trained staff in incident tactical dispatching, can deploy a comms trailer and can use CAD links to reduce delays from call transfers in multi‑jurisdiction incidents.

The meeting included a letter read from Grant County District 3 Commissioner Steve Simpson, which supported regional partnership as a fiscally responsible approach for small counties and noted that Grant County retains staff who perform both dispatcher and jailer duties.

Next steps discussed at the meeting included a site tour of the Woods County dispatch center, a contract review, vendor quotes, stakeholder operational meetings with law enforcement/fire/EMS, and a more detailed breakdown of calls for service to determine billing shares. No formal decision was made; the board closed the item and proceeded to the rest of the agenda.

The meeting adjourned on a voice vote after the final agenda items.