Pierce County will have an eight member advisory committee for its E-911 system.
Commissioners approved the new board at a called meeting last Tuesday night.
The advisory board will include the eventual new county manager, Sheriff Ramsey Bennett, County Fire Chief and EMA director Santo Niño, EMS director Blake James, Blackshear Police Chief Chris Wright, Blackshear Fire Chief Bucky Goble, Patterson Police Chief Darrell Dixon and Patterson Fire Chief Stevie Sweat.
The eight person board was pared down from the original proposal, which called for up to 13 members.
Third district commissioner Randy Dixon and second district commissioner Graham Raley both said a 13-member board was too many.
County Manager Chuck Scragg said he included 13 members under the idea that “more voices make a better choir.”
Blackshear Mayor Keith Brooks and Chief Wright had pointed out that state law requires a 911 advisory board, although Pierce County does not have one.
Wright noted there have been some issues with dispatching.
In December of last year, the city learned Sheriff Bennett, in his role as director of the E-911 center, had directed dispatchers to dispatch certain calls to sheriff’s deputies instead of Blackshear Police, despite those calls being within the jurisdiction of the City of Blackshear.
“Sometimes folks use officers when they mean deputies and vice versa,” he said. “Basically, what they mean is send the closest person to help.”
The E-911 center was an independent department in county government until 2019 when it was placed under Sheriff Bennett’s supervision.
The city has asked for the creation of an independent advisory board to administer the 911 center.
The new advisory committee will meet quarterly and members will serve without compensation. The advisory board will meet — possibly as soon as April — once a new county manager has been hired.
