ROSEBUD – Gasconade County Enhanced-911 might soon be dispatching for the Gerald Police Department — and possibly another smaller Franklin County municipality.

E-911 Executive Director Michael Lockhart during last week’s Board of Directors session reported that the agency is in talks with Gerald city officials to begin dispatching services for that community. The move comes as Gerald is facing a hike in fees and a reduction in service by the Franklin County 911 Program.

Lockhart told the Gasconade County E-911 board that in addition to boosting Gerald’s annual fee, the Franklin County dispatch service will stop conducting warrant searches for the city. Faced with an increased cost and reduced services, Gerald officials approached Gasconade County E-911 about contracting for services, the executive director said.

Taking on dispatching duties for Gerald will not require adding to the E-911 staff, Lockhart said. Gerald runs about 1,000 calls a year, he said, adding, “they would be one of our lower-volume agencies.”

As currently envisioned, Gasconade County E-911 would charge Gerald $8,400 a year, but that cost would drop to about $6,300 when Gerald police cars become equipped with the computer-assisted dispatching technology used by the E-911 Program.

Lockhart said the agency will craft a contract to present to the Gerald Board of Aldermen for consideration. In addition to dispatching units, the E-911 staff also would conduct warrant entry and searches via the Missouri Uniform Law Enforcement System (MULES), he said.

Meanwhile, the agency’s top administrator said there also has been interest expressed by Berger officials to receive dispatching services. It appears Berger is looking to bring on at least a part-time police officer.

“We’ll have to sit down and a full-scale conversation with them,” Lockhart said, referring to Berger officials.

He told the directors that Berger would be expected to have only about 300 calls a year dispatched through the Gasconade County program. When asked by board members what the rationale might be on the part of Franklin County’s 911 Program for reducing service to Gerald, Lockhart said it appears to be a desire of that county’s program to cut back on services to the smaller municipalities.

Unlike the Gasconade County E-911 Program, which is an independent agency with its own funding sources, the Franklin County 911 Program operates as a department of Franklin County government, subject to the oversight of the Franklin County Commission. The E-911 board last Wednesday morning formally authorized Lockhart to present a contract to Gerald officials for dispatching services.