The DeKalb County Emergency Communications District, better known as the E-911 Center, is looking for some extra help from DeKalb County as well as the City of Smithville. Officials say that the call volume at the dispatch center has nearly doubled in the past 16 years, and more employees are needed.

During a budget meeting with the Smithville Mayor and Aldermen on Monday, April 19, E-911 Director Brad Mullinax asked the city to increase its annual contribution of $119,595 to $160,000 in order for the facility to hire two more dispatchers. The same request was made during a county budget meeting the following night.

Mullinax has also requested that the county make repairs and improvements to the E-911 building, on Mountain Street in Smithville, with COVID-19 relief funds or American Rescue Plan Act money and to repave and seal the parking lot. Mullinax first asked more dispatchers last year, but his requests were not funded.

The DCECD (E-911) central dispatch center currently employs ten dispatchers, two per shift. “The city and county each currently fund three dispatch positions and the Town of Alexandria funds us about $25,000 a year and then DeKalb County 911 picks up the other piece of that (those costs). We (E-911) are also responsible for all the operational costs, radio repairs, tower repairs, etc.,” said Mullinax.

The request is to add two more dispatchers, one each funded by the city and county, in order to have three dispatchers per shift, on four shifts.

“We currently staff two full time dispatchers on every shift and we have a swing shift person that works the busiest hours of the day, but the time has come that we really need to look at adding an additional staff member on every shift. We request that one additional person from the city be budgeted in the upcoming fiscal year budget to where we can expand the staffing to have three people 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” said Mullinax.

Both the City of Smithville and the DeKalb County Commission are considering the requests.