1. (a) Each county shall have in operation an enhanced 9-1-1 system.
2. (b) If implementation is preceded by cooperative planning, the enhanced 9-1-1 system required under subsection (a) of this section may operate as part of a multicounty system.

3. (c)

   1. (1) Services available through a 9-1-1 system shall include police, fire fighting, and emergency ambulance services.
   2. (2) Other emergency and civil defense services may be incorporated into the 9-1-1 system at the discretion of the county or counties served by the 9-1-1 system.

4. (d)

   1. (1) The digits 9-1-1 are the primary emergency telephone number in the 9-1-1 system.

   2. (2) A public safety agency whose services are available through the 9-1-1 system:

      1. (i) may maintain a separate secondary backup telephone number for emergency calls; and
      2. (ii) shall maintain a separate telephone number for nonemergency calls.

5. (e) Educational information that relates to emergency services made available by the State or a county:

   1. (1) shall designate the number 9-1-1 as the primary emergency telephone number;
   2. (2) may include a separate secondary backup telephone number for emergency calls; and
   3. (3) shall include information on the requirements of § 1-314 of this subtitle.

6. (f)

   1. (1) Each public safety answering point shall notify the public safety agencies in a county 9-1-1 system of requests for emergency services in the county.
   2. (2) Written guidelines shall be developed to govern the referral of requests for emergency services to the appropriate public safety agency.
   3. (3) State, county, and local public safety agencies with concurrent jurisdiction shall have written agreements to ensure a clear understanding of which specific requests for emergency services will be referred to which public safety agency.
7. (g) Counties, other units of local government, public safety agencies, and public safety answering points may enter into cooperative agreements for the allocation of maintenance, operational, and capital costs attributable to the 9-1-1 system.

8. (h)

   1. (1) Each public safety answering point shall develop a written policy on the procedures to be followed by the public safety answering point when a call is received that involves an individual suffering an active mental health crisis.

   2. (2) The written policy developed under paragraph (1) of this subsection shall include:

      1. (i) the procedures to triage a call involving an individual suffering an active mental health crisis;
      2. (ii) the resources that are available for dispatch;
      3. (iii) the procedures for making a dispatch decision; and
      4. (iv) training for applicable staff on implementing the procedures.

Added by Acts 2003, c. 5, § 2, eff. Oct. 1, 2003. Amended by Acts 2019, c. 301, § 1, eff. July 1, 2019; Acts 2019, c. 302, § 1, eff. July 1, 2019; Acts 2020, c. 375, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 2020; Acts 2020, c. 376, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 2020; Acts 2022, c. 687, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 2022; Acts 2022, c. 688, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 2022.