Pickett County Working To Bring Back E-911 Center

17 years ago the Pickett and Overton County E-911 centers merged together, but that could change soon.

Pickett County wants to start up their own E-911 center and house the department in the new jail that’s scheduled to be built by the summer of 2018.

Pickett County Executive Richard Daniel said the county simply didn’t have a facility to house an E-911 center 17 years ago. With a new jail on the horizon, Daniel said it’s time to bring the center back.

“It’s important to have it because we would have local dispatchers who have a better knowledge of the county and roads,” Daniel said. “It would also help us with dispatching our emergency services and sheriff’s department out because we would bring all that into one department.”

Daniel said the county will have to petition the state 911 board to allow a new district to be created. A referendum will also be held in May of 2018 to let Pickett County residents decide if they want the center to remain in Overton County or be relocated in Pickett County.

Daniel said if the center does come back to Pickett County it would mean more jobs for local residents.

“We have dispatchers at the sheriff’s office now that handles a lot of the dispatch, but we will create some full time positions here in the county that we don’t have right now,” Daniel said.

The creation of a Pickett County E-911 center would have a negative impact on Overton County’s E-911. Director Chris Masiongale said the department could lose $130,000 in revenue, which means he would have to ask the county for more money to make up the difference.

In the meantime, Daniel said he has already started conversations with the state board. Construction on the new jail is expected to begin sometime in August.