Johns Creek voters will help decide Nov. 3 whether Georgia lawmakers can establish a dedicated fund to modernize emergency 911 systems statewide.

Amendment 3 would authorize the General Assembly to create the Georgia Next Generation 911 Fund and dedicate existing revenues to it. Money deposited in the fund could be used only for expanding, maintaining and operating 911 systems, including the transition to newer technology, according to the Secretary of State’s official summary and amendment text.

The amendment would not impose a new fee. Funds would not lapse at the end of a fiscal year, allowing unspent money to remain available for 911 purposes. Approval would provide constitutional authorization for lawmakers to establish the funding structure; it would not automatically install new equipment.

What the upgrades could do

Next Generation 911, or NG911, uses internet-based technology to improve how emergency centers receive calls, share information and transfer communications between jurisdictions.

The Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency told Atlanta News First that approximately 88% of Georgia’s 911 centers still rely on aging infrastructure rooted in technology designed for landline calls.

Potential improvements include support for photos and video, better caller-location information and more flexible routing when a center experiences an outage.

Johns Creek’s emergency calls are handled by ChatComm, the Chattahoochee River 911 Authority, which also serves Sandy Springs, Dunwoody and Brookhaven. The local system already accepts text messages: the four cities introduced text-to-911 service in December 2016, according to Georgia Public Broadcasting.

The statewide proposal does not specify a Johns Creek funding allocation or a local upgrade schedule.

In an AT&T-sponsored column on SaportaReport, AT&T Georgia President Riley Blount said NG911 can help centers reroute calls during disruptions and exchange emergency information across jurisdictions.

Recent outage highlights reliability concerns

The vote follows a Sept. 21 technical failure affecting Atlanta’s emergency dispatch system.

Dispatchers moved to a temporary call center and recorded information by hand, slowing call processing. The Fulton County Emergency Communications Center helped handle calls during the disruption, FOX 5 Atlanta reported.

The system was restored by the following morning. That incident does not establish that the proposed upgrades would have prevented the failure.

House Resolution 1243, which placed Amendment 3 on the ballot, received final passage votes of 162-0 in the House on March 4 and 49-0 in the Senate on March 31, according to the Georgia Municipal Association’s legislative tracker.

Where to vote

Early voting continues through Friday, Oct. 30. Nearby locations include:

  • Northeast Spruill Oaks Library, 9560 Spruill Road, Johns Creek
  • Robert E. Fulton Ocee Library, 5090 Abbotts Bridge Road, Johns Creek
  • Johns Creek Environmental Campus, 8100 Holcomb Bridge Road, with a Roswell mailing address

Hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, according to Fulton County’s elections office.

Fulton County voters may use any advance voting location in the county. On Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, they must vote at their assigned precinct, which they can find through the Georgia My Voter Page.