Welcome to Johnson County Sheriff's Department Emergency 911 Questions


Information


Mission Statement: To provide citizens with the highest level of law enforcement in a fair and equitable manner. It is our hope that the members of our community will trust us to respond with respect and compassion in their time of need. It is our goal to work proactively with our citizens to keep Johnson County a safe place to live and work.


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Emergency 911 Questions

Q. What is enhanced 911?
A. Enhanced 911 identifies the telephone number and address of the person placing the emergency call from a landline.
Q. How does Enhanced 911 work?
A. Telephone exchanges have the capability to identify the phone number from which the call is made.  A computer database is developed which associates an address with the phone number.  When a 911 call is made the caller’s phone number is relayed to the computer which then displays the phone number and address on a video screen for the telecommunicator. Along with this information is what agency should respond (police, fire, ambulance).

Johnson County dispatches sheriff, Coralville Police, North Liberty Police, Johnson County ambulance (and notifies Area Ambulance for persons in the NW part of the county), 9 fire departments (Coralville, Hills, Lone Tree, North Liberty, Oxford, Solon, Swisher, Tiffin, West Branch)-along with notifying surrounding counties to dispatch fire departments that have jurisdiction in our county.
Q. Will the computer database be confidential?
A. State law restricts the information to E911 emergency use only.  Anyone releasing this information will be subject to legal penalties.
Q. How is enhanced 911 service paid for?
A. Each landline has a $0.45 surcharge on their phone bill.
Q. What can the money raised by the surcharge be spent for? 
A. Under the state law, the funds received from the surcharge collections can only be spent on updates and equipment used within the PSAP(public safety answering point).  No more than 25% of the annual budget can be carried over at the end of the fiscal year.  If the year-end carry over is more than 25%, the state can require reduction of the surcharge.
Q. How will farm locations be identified?
A. Each farm or rural residence will have a street address, similar to houses in town.  Each address outside city limits in the county will have a blue sign placed near the entrance to the drive.  
Q. Where do I get a blue rural 911 address sign?
A. For a new/damaged or destroyed blue 911 sign, contact Johnson County Planning and Zoning at 319-356-6083.
Q. How will this help emergency responders?
A. The most important part is that the telecommunicator will have the address information from the computer database and can relay exact address information to the emergency unit(s) responding.
Q. Are rural address maps available to everyone?
A. Maps may be purchased through the Johnson County Auditor's office.
Q. Is there enhanced 911 for cellular phones?
A. At the present time the information received by the telecommunicator shows the tower location where the call came from.  It does not give us a location of the caller.  If you use your cellular phone and place an emergency 911 call, you will be asked your location and your name and address.
Q. Who answers your cellular phone call?
A. Depending on your calling location, your call could be routed to one of many PSAP’s (public safety answering points).  You may be in one county placing the call and your phone “hits” a tower in another county, your call could go there.  Again, this is why you should know your location when placing a call.
Q. Is there anything in the works for cellular calls to become enhanced?
A. Yes, at the present the cellular world is working on what is called “Phase 2”.  This will provide information on latitude and longitude.  PSAP’s will have to have the appropriate mapping capabilities to turn this information into a location that can be relayed to the appropriate authorities.