PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — A business that provides advice and management services for South Dakota’s “Next Generation 911” system has offered to develop a consolidation plan for handling emergency calls throughout the state.
The project would expand the contract that the State College, Pennsylvania-based company, 911 Authority, currently holds with the South Dakota Department of Public Safety.
The state 911 Coordination Board is scheduled to discuss the proposal during a teleconference meeting on Monday, August 26. The governor-appointed board operates as an arm of the department.
The proposal says the work would last four months and finish on approximately December 20. It doesn’t show a price.
“This in-depth analysis will examine the current dispatch infrastructure, response times, operational costs, and service quality to provide a clear understanding of how consolidation could streamline emergency response, optimize resource allocation, and lead to potential cost savings. The study will also identify potential challenges and risks associated with consolidation,” the proposal states.
Currently, calls for emergency service flow through 32 separately managed dispatch centers, including four that are tribally operated, known as public service answering points, or PSAPs.
The proposal comes in the wake of the Legislature passing HB1092 during the 2024 session, after weeks of negotiation.
The new law temporarily increases the monthly 911 surcharge to $2 per telephone line, from $1.25, through July 1, 2026. It also requires that each PSAP must submit an annual report to the 911 Coordination Board, and directs the state board to include in its annual report to lawmakers “an assessment of operational efficiencies of each public safety answering point.”
In April and in July 911 service has been impacted in the state. In April, Lumen Technologies said the cause of the 911 outage was due to a third-party light pole installation.
