Frequently Asked Questions

9-1-1 systems in Alabama are managed by an Emergency Communications District. An ECD may serve a County or a City/Municipality. Use this page to search for a County and a list of ECDs in that county will be shown. All 67 Counties have an ECD and within some Counties one or more municipalities have a separate ECD.

Yes - but the Board may invoke an Executive Session if requirements of the Alabama Open Meetings Act are met. If the Board anticipates an Executive Session they attempt to schedule them at the end of a meeting agenda.

Typically the Board meets at 1 Commerce Street, Montgomery, AL <Map> This building is on the corner of Commerce and Montgomery Streets and parking is available on street, and in public decks and lots. There are times when the Board meets at another location. Please visit the Secretary of State's Open Meetings website for information on scheduled meetings including location.

As required by law, all public meetings are noticed at the Secretary of State's Open Meetings website.  You may sign up to receive notices there.

Alabama Section 11-98-12 sets forth the conditions for release of an audio recording of a 9-1-1 call.

Release of audio recording; public records; transcript.

(a) After April 21, 2010, an emergency communications district may not release the audio recording of a 911 telephone call except pursuant to a court order finding that the right of the public to the release of the recording outweighs the privacy interests of the individual who made the 911 call or any person involved in the facts or circumstances relating to the 911 call. This section shall not apply to law enforcement personnel conducting an investigation where the 911 telephone call is or may be relevant to the investigation.

(b) An audio recording may be released without a court order to the caller whose voice is on the 911 audio recording or, in the event that the caller is deceased or incapacitated, to the legal representative of the caller or the caller's estate, provided the person seeking the 911 audio recording submits a sworn affidavit to include sufficient information so that the emergency communications district director may verify the statements which attest to the following facts:

(1) That the person signing the affidavit is the caller or that the caller is deceased or incapacitated and the person signing the affidavit is the legal representative of the caller or the caller's estate.

(2) That release of the 911 audio recording is pertinent to the investigation of a legal matter resulting from the events necessitating the making of the 911 call at issue.

(c) Notwithstanding subsection (a), any written or electronic record detailing the circumstances, response, or other events related to a 911 call which is kept by the emergency communications district in its regular course of business shall be deemed a public writing under Section 36-12-40, and subject to public inspection as otherwise provided by law.

(d) Upon payment of a reasonable fee, not to exceed the actual cost of transcription, an emergency communications district shall provide a transcript of any requested audio recording of a 911 telephone call which is retained by the emergency communications district.

(Act 2010-502, p. 806, §1.)

Each telephone subscriber in Alabama pays $1.86 per phone per month on their phone bill and this revenue is forwarded to the State 9-1-1 Board by telephone service providers.

Subscribers that use a pre-paid telephone service pay a percentage at the point of sale and these funds are also forwarded to the State Board.

The State Board disburses funds to the 85 Emergency Communications Districts that administer local 9-1-1 systems. A monthly report of revenue disbursed to ECDs is available here.

In Alabama, 911 addresses are assigned by the local authorities. Please click here to find the addressing authority for your location. 

As part of the ANGEN NG9-1-1 implementation, text for 9-1-1 is provided by our network service provider, INdigital through a service called Texty. Texty allows for both texting to the 9-1-1 Center as well as outbound texting from the 9-1-1 Center. Click here to see a map showing text for 9-1-1 availability as of February 2021. Please keep in mind that it is always better to call 9-1-1, if you are able.

Visit this page - Links to Chapter 11-98 EMERGENCY TELEPHONE SERVICE

Email michelle@al911board.com for the form required.

ECDs are required to submit their Annual Certification no later than January 31st.  You can access the form and a webinar discussing it here.

Annual Reporting Requirements For Communication Districts

1.   Each Communication District shall submit annually on a cash basis, in a format prescribed by the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts, all information required by Act Number 2012-293, Acts of Alabama:

• 911 rates in effect for residence telephone service and for business telephone service in the communications district for each fiscal year.
• 911 revenues collected by the communications district by month for each fiscal year.
• The amount of any funding provided to the communications district by a county or municipality in which the communications district resides by month for each fiscal year.
• The amount of revenues received by the communications district from the Commercial Mobile Radio Service Emergency Telephone Services Board by month for each fiscal year.
• The amount of any direct grants from federal or state government and any state matches for federal, state, local, or private grants for each fiscal year.
• Gifts or other amounts not otherwise reported in this section.
• Amounts held in any savings or investment accounts or reserve or escrow accounts by fiscal year.
• Each district shall identify and specify in detail how the 911 funds received by each district were spent in each fiscal year.
• Monthly charges paid to each telecommunications service provider for both data base and network charges.

2.   All required information should be recorded in the spreadsheet which is to be obtained from the Department’s website:  Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts.

3.   The required information is to be submitted to the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts no later than November 30th, following the end of each fiscal year.

If you have any questions, contact the Examiner's office directly at (334) 777-0500

Please visit this page for information about 9-1-1 fee remittances from carriers.

A list of ECDs searchable by County or City is available here.