Roanoke Rapids used to maintain its own 911 call center. 

When Halifax County took this over many years ago, Roanoke Rapids entered an interlocal agreement to assist the county with funding the call center.

The lawsuit references a 2004 interlocal funding agreement which was amended in 2013.

Under the 2013 amendment, the city of Roanoke Rapids agreed to reimburse a portion of Halifax County’s PSAP costs, calculated based on the PSAP’s annual budget and the city’s share of total call volume.

On 6/29/20, the city of Roanoke Rapids gave notice that it would end its financial support for the Halifax County PSAP effective 7/1/22.

The city of RR filed a lawsuit claiming that 2011 changes in the North Carolina law obligated the county to provide PSAP services to its public safety agents at no cost. 

Halifax County filed a counterclaim arguing that while it has a duty to provide the services, municipalities must share in any costs not covered by state funds.

The court ruled in favor of Halifax County, ruling that PSAP operating costs “cannot be imposed exclusively on the PSAP provider.”

RR City Council took a vote on whether to appeal this decision, and it passed 3-2. Why did two council members vote to continue paying the county?

On appeal, the court found that neither party had standing to file suit because there was no actionable dispute.

This leaves us back at square one – or does it?

Errors made by our legal team

The city of RR filed suit against Halifax County requesting an advisory opinion regarding the

financial responsibility for operating the county’s 911 system. 

The court’s role is to interpret the laws, not to write the laws. 

Had the city simply stopped paying, Halifax County would need to sue us to receive payment, at which point we would understand the basis of their legal argument for “cost sharing.” 

Because the city filed first, we started off at a disadvantage, and our tax dollars were wasted on legal fees.

In 2010, the NC General Assembly passed General Statutes 143b-1400 to 143b-1416 establishing state guidelines for county-maintained PSAP systems. 

None of these statutes mention a required contribution by municipalities served by the county 911 system.

Once this series of E911 guidelines was passed in 2010, our legal team should have advised that we cease paying the E911 fees to ensure that Halifax County was entitled to them. 

We voluntarily gave the county the equivalent of $3.7 million since 2010.

Ephraim Brodsky

Roanoke Rapids

Editor's note: Brodsky made this presentation during the public comments period of Tuesday's city council meeting