Blackford County Approves $58,000 Dispatch Console Upgrade

From the Blackford County Council meeting on April 8, 2026

Blackford County's dispatch console system — the touchscreen interface dispatchers use to communicate with law enforcement, fire, and EMS — has reached end-of-life and is no longer being serviced. The council voted 6-0 to approve an upgrade.

Sheriff Heftlin presented two options: an upgrade through ERS, the current provider, at $18,599.02 for hardware replacement plus $11,736 per year for a five-year service agreement, or a full system replacement through JK Systems at approximately $120,000–$161,000. The sheriff recommended the ERS upgrade, saying it would be "more than sufficient to keep the system that we have now viable long-term."

The total cost over five years is approximately $58,680 for the hardware upgrade and service agreement combined. Funding will come from the emergency telephone fund, which has $70,980 available, and the public safety fund, which has $16,370. The annual service agreement payments will need to be built into future budgets.

Source: Video transcript — County Council 2026-04-08