Saratoga Signs Dispatching MOU with County

MAY 22, 2025 |

Photo – Dispatch image – Bigfoot99 file photo

The county is moving closer to consolidating all emergency dispatching services under one roof.

During Tuesday’s Board of Carbon County Commissioners meeting, Sheriff Alex Bakken presented a memorandum of understanding between his department and the town of Saratoga for police and fire dispatching services. Sheriff Bakken said the contract is nearly finalized, with only small clarifications needed regarding the distribution of federal emergency 911 grant funding. The sheriff said everyone is on board with the contract.

Carbon County has three agencies providing emergency dispatch services: the sheriff’s department and the Saratoga and Rawlins Police Departments. The county has been working to consolidate all three emergency call centers into the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office.

In November of 2023, Saratoga Police Chief Mike Morris found, due to a staff shortage, his department could no longer provide 24-hour emergency call coverage.

The Saratoga Town Council signed a memorandum of understanding with the Sheriff’s Office to have a dispatcher from the county cover the Saratoga call center when necessary.

During that time, both law enforcement agencies recognized the advantages of permanently consolidating dispatching services under the county, such as reduced equipment upgrade costs and minimized competition for the limited pool of available dispatchers.

Last June, representatives from Carbon County’s three emergency call centers met in the Platte Valley Community Center to discuss the pros and cons of a single county-wide dispatching center. Sheriff Alex Bakken and Saratoga Police Chief Mike Morris agreed that a combined dispatch center will be more efficient and easier to staff. However, Rawlins Police Chief Mike Ward said the project is unlikely to save the county money.

The Saratoga Police Department chose to move forward with a combined dispatch center, with Rawlins opting to remain independent.

At the May 20^th Board of Carbon County Commissioners meeting, Sheriff Bakken explained that the memorandum of understanding, or MOU, requires the town of Saratoga to pay just over $125,000 annually, with a built-in increase to keep pace with inflation.

Sheriff Bakken reiterated the Saratoga Town Council fully supports the agreement, including transferring Saratoga’s $14,000 of federal emergency 911 funding to the county.

The sheriff acknowledged that some people are unhappy with the idea of a combined dispatch center, viewing it as a loss of autonomy. However, the Sheriff said shrinking financial resources have made consolidation unavoidable.

Commission Vice Chairwoman Gwynn Bartlett asked if $125,000 would be enough to fully cover the county’s additional expenses. Sheriff Bakken responded the agreement would fund extra staff and necessary technical upgrades.

The Sheriff added a recent two-week trial demonstrated the consolidation process should be straightforward.

Sheriff Bakken expressed his gratitude to the town of Saratoga for supporting the combined dispatch center. Commissioner Sue Jones thanked Sheriff Bakken for beginning the process, saying previous Boards have unsuccessfully attempted a similar initiative.

The Board of Carbon County Commissions unanimously voted to allow Sheriff Bakken to sign the MOU with Saratoga. The agreement goes into effect July 1^st and will be renewed on a yearly basis.