MARTINSVILLE, Va. – The Henry County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to allocate two state grants aimed at boosting the Martinsville-Henry County 911 Center.
The grants will be used to upgrade equipment, support the center’s accreditation process, and develop a regional partnership with Franklin and Patrick counties to answer calls across jurisdictions. These efforts are designed to better serve the public, officials said.
The 911 center serves both Henry County and Martinsville City. Although the communities are relatively small compared to other parts of Virginia, the center’s director said it is one of the busiest in the state, handling more than 140,000 calls last year.
“They’re very busy. Day shift is much busier than nights, but nights handles a different type of workload, more of the investigative,” said Tierra Dillard, the center’s director.
Some calls come from outside county lines. The largest grant, $300,000, will fund the start of the regional partnership.
“There are times you might use a cell phone to call 911 and depending on your location, you might get Henry County when you wanted Patrick County. So that happens quite often. This will help us transfer those calls pretty seamlessly being connected,” Dillard said.
Dillard hopes work on the partnership will begin early next year.
The other grant will help upgrade equipment, including workstations and servers in the center, and begin the accreditation process, which involves additional training.
The county is also hiring for a new 911 dispatcher, to help ensure the center is fully staffed.