The Dickinson County 911 Administration Office oversees the 911 phone system, CAD system, the public safety radio system, and the rural addressing system for Dickinson County, Iowa.

The Administrator works under the direction of the Dickinson County 911 Service Board. The Board is made up of members from the Cities of Arnolds Park, Lake Park, Milford, Okoboji, Spirit Lake, Superior and Terril along with the Sheriff, a representative of the Emergency Management Commission, and a member of the Dickinson County Board of Supervisors. The May City and Everly Fire Departments also have a seat on the Board because their fire districts cover portions of Dickinson County.

Our 911 dispatchers work under the authority of the Dickinson County Sheriff's Office.

The first question a 911 dispatcher will ask is "What is the location of your emergency?" Being able to provide your location will mean a quicker response by emergency personnel. If you have to call 911, be ready to provide an address, intersection, or highway number with mile marker.

The day-to-day operations of the 911 system in Dickinson County are funded by landline and wireless surcharge funds.

Iowa Code 34A states that each landline telephone in Iowa shall pay an amount of $1 per month. The telephone companies collect and remit the surcharge directly to the Dickinson County 911 Service Board for all landlines located within Dickinson County. The same code section restricts the usage of these funds only for equipment used in the receipt and disposition of a 911 call - that is, any equipment needed to receive, process, and dispatch the call.

Iowa Code also states that each cell phone subscriber shall pay a 911 surcharge in the amount of $1 per month. These funds, however, are handled differently. Wireless surcharge funds are paid to the State of Iowa. The state 911 office pays for the necessary equipment to receive and direct each cellular 911 call to the proper dispatch center. Of all of the wireless funds collected by the State, they are required to send 60% back to local service boards. Those funds are divided up based on land area covered by the dispatch center (in our case, all of Dickinson County) and the number of 911 calls received - with a formula that's weighted toward land area (65%) versus call volume (35%).