HB1564 - Public Safety Act of 2019

• Creates the Arkansas 911 Board to replace the Arkansas Emergency Telephone Services Board, consisting of representatives from emergency management, state auditor, geographic information, counties, municipalities, 911 coordinators, police, sheriff, emergency medical services, and fire departments.

• Establishes funding mechanism through public safety charges on wireless, voice over internet protocol, and nontraditional phone services (increased from $0.65 to $1.30 per month per connection), with funds distributed to public safety answering points on a population basis and used for 911 system operations and next generation 911 infrastructure.

• Requires development of a next generation 911 system (secure, internet protocol-based platform supporting voice, text, data, and multimedia) and transition period where old charges continue through September 30, 2019, and new charges begin October 1, 2019.

• Changes terminology from "911 public safety communications centers" to "public safety answering points" and restricts creation of new answering points until July 1, 2020, except through consolidation or replacement.

• Creates Arkansas Public Safety Trust Fund to receive all public safety charges and distribute funds to the Arkansas 911 Board after making quarterly distributions to law enforcement training and Arkansas Wireless Information Network upgrades.