Two filling position of Scott County E911 director

BENTON, Mo. -- Scott County will try operating its E-911 communications center without having one person filling the capacity of supervisor.

Instead, the county's jail administrator and a senior employee of the E-911 center will both work to oversee the operations.

Presiding Commissioner Jamie Burger didn't term the move a cost-cutting measure, instead calling it a "money-saving effort."

The communications center has been plagued by high turnover in recent months, including in the director's position. The last director, Lisa Mullin, was hired near the beginning of the year and put in her resignation late last month.

At the same time the communications center has been struggling with budget problems due to shortfalls in revenue from a 911 tax levied on land-line telephones, which are decreasing in number as more people switch to cell phones and discard their traditional lines.

Commissioners are trying to find some way to address the issue of falling revenue. One of the most talked about solutions among commissioners is a regionalization of 911 services.

"We're getting real close to having to make some major changes in that 911 system," said Commissioner Dennis Ziegenhorn.