Fort Smith Consolidates 911 Services for Improved Emergency Response

Fort Smith, Arkansas — Fort Smith and Sebastian County are working to combine all emergency calls into a single location. The new 911 call center will be run by the City of Fort Smith and supervised by a board of city and county leaders. They have an ambitious timeline of about 18 months to get the center constructed and operational.

During emergencies, the first call for help is often the 911 service. Dispatchers in Fort Smith received more than 60,000 emergency calls last year. Wes Milam, the city’s director of public safety communications, emphasizes the importance of quick responses, stating, “The amount of time in which to get a public safety response to somebody that’s in an emergency is critical.”

Currently, callers may experience transfers between different dispatch departments. “You can call dispatch, give them a bit of information, and we may have to transfer you to Sebastian County,” Milam explained. “We are looking to the consolidation to eliminate all of that, providing one call, one dispatch center to determine the response needed.”

Milam is just two days into his new role. After over 20 years with the Fort Smith Police Department, he aims to make the River Valley Communications Center a reality. The new facility will be located off Highway 71 South in Fort Smith, replacing a vacant restaurant with a FEMA-approved storm-safe building that will serve as a hub for police, fire, and EMS services throughout the county.

The consolidation was mandated by Act 660, known as the Public Safety Act of 2019. This law requires 911 call centers across Arkansas to consolidate into one location per county to minimize dropped or transferred emergency calls. Although the original deadline was 2025, the city and county secured a two-year extension. Milam believes that meeting the new deadline remains a significant challenge.

<p“This has never been done in Sebastian County, and there are many stakeholders involved to find the best way forward,” Milam said. “You have police, sheriff, fire, rural fire, EMS— all those elements combined.”

In comparison, neighboring counties like Washington and Benton have three 911 call centers each due to population growth. The River Valley Communications Center is expected to be operational by January 2027, with the project forecasted to exceed $10 million in costs.