It could be six to nine months before the North Carolina Court of Appeals hears oral arguments in a case over 911 center funding between Halifax County and the city of Roanoke Rapids, County Attorney Glynn Rollins told the board of commissioners Monday.

Rollins informed the board he filed the county’s brief on June 29 and told the panel the city has 15 days from that date to file a reply if it chooses to do so. “I haven’t heard from the city attorney if they intend to file a reply brief but that puts it on the court’s schedule for oral argument but I don’t know when that would be.”

Rollins said talks at a county attorney’s conference indicated the court of appeals is running on a six- to nine-month time frame. “If that holds true we’re going to be into next spring before we have oral arguments. All the filings are close to being done.”

City Attorney Geoffrey Davis said he doesn’t plan to file a reply brief. “I feel that I fully covered the city’s position in my initial brief. Most appellate cases do not get reply briefs.”

While he said he couldn’t speak for the county, Davis said, “I feel that both parties have fully articulated their arguments at both the trial and appellate levels at this point.  Anything more would be wasting the court’s time.”

The county’s brief argues that while the 911 center serves as the only public safety answering point in the county and is required to field animal control, police and fire calls in Roanoke Rapids it is equally true that the city is required to include some proportional share of the local cost of access to the center in its municipal budgets. 

The city argues that the court of appeals should reverse a ruling made in superior court that the county is prohibited by law from fully bearing the costs related to its operation of the 911 center and that the higher court should also reverse the declaratory judgment of the trial court regarding its determination that the city is obligated to remunerate the county for a portion of its personnel costs for operating the center.

On January 4 Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Foster wrote that the city is obligated to pay a portion of the county’s personnel costs for operating the county 911 center.

At the time of the superior court ruling the county had invoiced the city in the amount of $203,431.50 for its share of the local cost of operating the central communications center, based upon the percentage of the calls taken and dispatched on behalf of the city in calendar year 2021. 

On June 29, 2021, the city gave a 12-month notice to the county that it would cease its financial support of the Halifax County Central Communications Center effective July 1, 2022.