STATE OF MICHIGAN

FRANK J. KELLEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL

Opinion No. 6861

July 27, 1995

COUNTIES:

County imposing a fee upon the Michigan State Police in connection with the operation of a central 9-1-1 dispatch

STATE POLICE:

County imposing a fee upon the Michigan State Police in connection with the operation of a central 9-1-1 dispatch

A county operating a central 9-1-1 dispatch is not authorized by law to impose a fee upon the Michigan State Police when the Michigan State Police are dispatched within the county to accident scenes and other law enforcement emergencies by that dispatch authority.

Honorable James McNutt

State Representative

The Capitol

Lansing, MI

You have asked if a county operating a central 9-1-1 dispatch is authorized by law to impose a fee upon the Michigan State Police when the Michigan State Police are dispatched within the county to accident scenes and other law enforcement emergencies by that dispatch authority.

It is my understanding that the county in question operates a 9-1-1 central dispatch service for emergency telephone requests for public safety services. While there is no Michigan State Police Post in this county, units of the Michigan State Police patrolling in the county advise the county's central dispatch service of their presence in the county.

To facilitate the central dispatch's determination of which law enforcement patrol vehicle is closest to an emergency, police vehicles in this county (including the Michigan State Police) are equipped with mobile data terminals. These terminals communicate with the central dispatch by electronic mail when the central dispatch uses its radio frequency to advise law enforcement officers patrolling in the county of an emergency situation.

Counties, individually or in cooperation with other counties, are authorized by the Emergency Telephone Service Enabling Act, MCL 484.1101 et seq; MSA 22.1467(101) et seq (the Act), to establish and administer 9-1-1 service district programs. Section 401 of the Act authorizes the local telephone company to add surcharges on its bills to telephone customers in the 9-1-1 district for both capital and operating expenses of the 9-1-1 service, provided that the district has been established pursuant to the requirements of the Act. These charges are collected by the telephone company and paid over to the county under section 401(4) of the Act.

The Act recognizes that officers of the Michigan State Police are active participants in these 9-1-1 emergency dispatch programs. Section 303(2)(b) provides that the tentative service plan in 9-1-1 districts must include "the dispatch of Michigan state police personnel." Section 320(2) specifies that "a representative of the Michigan state police" must be a member of an emergency telephone district board. Section 321 states that a consolidated dispatch is to "provide full public safety dispatching services for service requests for the participating sheriff departments, state police, and other participating public safety agencies within the 9-1-1 service district." In addition, section 702 of the Act establishes an emergency telephone service committee within the Michigan Department of State Police "to develop statewide standards and model system considerations and make other recommendations for emergency telephone services." Section 703 specifies that the committee shall consist of seventeen members, including the Director of the Michigan Department of State Police.

It is noted that for several years past, the Legislature has included within the appropriations for the Michigan Department of State Police direct financial support for the consolidated dispatching operations used by 9-1-1 service districts. The appropriations were discontinued as of the end of the 1993-1994 fiscal year. In section 1155 of 1993 PA 179 the Legislature expressed its intent "that fiscal year 1993-94 payments for grants to 9-1-1 consolidated central dispatch centers shall constitute the final payment of these grants by the state." For a detailed overview of the State's participation in the funding of these consolidated dispatch systems from 1986 to 1994, see Senate Bill Analysis, SB 849, August 3, 1994. SB 849 was enacted into law as 1994 PA 29.

A review of the Act discloses that while a county is empowered by the Legislature to distribute funds to certain public safety agencies operating public service answering points for the county, section 401(9) of the Act, no express authority has been conferred on the county to exact fees from any public safety agency, including the Michigan State Police, that is requested by the county dispatch service to go to scene of a law enforcement agency based upon a 9-1-1 emergency call. Nor may such authority be implied. Public safety agencies dispatched to respond to 9-1-1 emergency calls placed by citizens paying fees under the Act for the operation by the county of the emergency telephone dispatch system should not be deterred from the performance of their duties by exaction of fees in the absence of clear authorization by the Legislature.

It is my opinion, therefore, that a county operating a central 9-1-1 dispatch is not authorized by law to impose a fee upon the Michigan State Police when the Michigan State Police are dispatched within the county to accident scenes and other law enforcement emergencies by that dispatch authority.

Frank J. Kelley

Attorney General