Local 911 Center to Get Major Upgrade as Part of Howard County Law Enforcement Center’s Expansion

Howard County Sheriff Stan Parker advised that the project has been in the works for 3-5 years. It will expand the area for the 911 center, evidence area, and will include 2 more offices added to the back of the building.

Stephanie Jones, Communications Director, told KBest News that the current 911 dispatch area is very tight and can be hard to hear calls at times. The 10 ft x 10 ft. space contains three work stations with 5 monitors and radio at each station to dispatch for Police, Fire, EMS, Sheriff Deputies, Volunteer Fire Department, VIPS, and monitor traffic for Animal Control.

“Right now, when 911 goes off and we’re taking calls it’s hard to hear your caller sometimes,” said Jones. She advised that the expansion will offer more space for the 911 area and allow them to hear and communicate better.

“We just need room. We’re just very compact in there. We enter warrants, so desk space would be necessary,” continued Jones.

Sheriff Parker advised that when the Sheriff’s Office and Police Department were combined into one area, the 911 center had already been built and was meant to only house one work station. In 2012 multiple services were combined and there are now 3-4 people working in this space meant for one person.

“It’s kinda become not a very productive area,” said Sheriff Parker.

The project has been in the works for approximately 3-5 years. According to County Judge Randy Johnson, the expansion will cost between $2.3 – $2.4 million. He advised that the upper end of that estimate includes contingency money that is set aside “just in case” there are unanticipated issues, such as change orders, surprises on existing plumbing conditions, or unanticipated costs.

Judge Johnson stated, “We certainly are working to keep it on the low end of that spread,” but also went on to say that, in his opinion, construction projects of this size should always include money being set aside in case something goes differently than what is planned for.

The expansion also includes the evidence area at the law enforcement center. Sheriff Parker advised that the current area is beginning to fill up because some evidence is stored for a lifetime and continues to take space.

“The problem with evidence is sometimes you have to keep it for a lifetime depending on the type of case. Some of your higher classification cases you have to keep the evidence forever, so you have a lot of issues long-term,” said Parker.

He noted that there’s still space available in the evidence area for the next 5-7 years, but they’ve decided to go ahead and expand the area while this project is underway to plan for the future.

The expansion will be added to the back portion of the Law Enforcement Center and will not impact day-to-day operations. Construction is expected to begin on Monday, Aug. 4, 2025.