RHETT MORGAN, Tulsa World (Oklahoma)

CLAREMORE – The director of Rogers County’s planned 911 center will bring a wealth of experience to her new job. Janet Hamilton of Punta Gorda, Fla., has worked with the Charlotte County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office since 1992 and has been its 911 administrator since 2000. Her first day with Rogers County is Dec. 1.

“She was the one that stood out the most because of her experience with next-generation technology and communication,” Rogers County Commissioner Mike Helm said of the three candidates interviewed. “She’s very advanced.”

On Monday, the three-member board of commissioners voted unanimously to choose Claremore over Inola as the site for the $1.6 million facility. The building, which also will house the county’s emergency management operations, will be located on 4 acres of donated land at Lowery Road and Oklahoma 88. The 6,500-square-foot building is the result of a ballot measure in December 2009, when more than 73 percent of county voters approved an extension of a 0.167 percent sales tax to underwrite a new 911 dispatch center and $19 million courthouse. Construction already is under way on the courthouse, which is twice the size of the existing one, and both structures are scheduled to be completed in the first half of 2013.

Hamilton received an associate’s degree from Rose State University in Midwest City in 1985. She received a bachelor’s degree from Hodges University in Naples, Fla., in 2010. Working her way up from communications and telecommunications positions, Hamilton became administrator of Charlotte County’s 911 system 11 years ago. While there, she has obtained four state-funded grants to purchase and install next-generation 911 networks and platforms. Her annual salary with Rogers County will be $58,000.

“I think we’ll be safer with her experience and her knowledge than anybody else we could have got,” Helm said. During a Rogers County Commission special meeting Monday, Hamilton was available by speakerphone as commissioners spelled out plans for the 911 complex. “She really rose to the occasion,” Helm said. “She asked tough questions of everybody. She was very professional.”

Much work remains, however. Although commissioners have decided on a site, countless decisions on infrastructure and communications must be made in the coming months. “It’s going to be a big challenge,” said Dan DeLozier, the commission’s chairman. “She’s going to come in and have to get all the fire departments, police departments and ambulances on board here to put this together and come up with a radio system that works for the whole county. It’s a big job, but I think she can handle it.”

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