Marquette County commissioners voted Tuesday, Aug. 18, to extend the county's current 911 dispatch system for three additional months, buying time as first responders publicly challenged a proposed switch to Motorola.

The extension keeps CentralSquare's Computer-Aided Dispatch system running beyond a nine-month extension the county already shares with other Upper Peninsula counties transitioning off the platform.

No contract with Motorola has been signed.

The vote came after a contentious public comment session in which first responders and 911 dispatchers took the podium inside Room 231 of the Marquette County Courthouse Annex to warn commissioners that Motorola's system lacks the mapping tools they need to locate people in remote areas, according to WBUP.

Joy Logan, a Marquette County 911 dispatcher, told commissioners the switch would degrade her ability to guide responders to emergencies.

"You're taking, my current work at the quality of work that I do, and you're going to be putting it down and by me not having adequate mapping, having CAD layers to be able to find the far out regions, to be able to help my responders get there quickly," Logan said. "We are going to be hurting our community."

Eight other U.P. counties and four in the northern Lower Peninsula are moving to Tyler Technologies for their CAD systems through the Upper Peninsula 911 Authority. Chippewa County confirmed in February 2026 that it signed with Tyler as part of that project. Marquette County's potential move to Motorola would put it on a different platform than its neighbors, raising concerns about how quickly dispatchers could share information across county lines during emergencies.

The Motorola path dates to Feb. 3, when commissioners voted 5-0 to authorize the Central Dispatch director to begin contract discussions with Motorola Solutions and the Michigan Public Safety Communications System. County administrator Duane DuRay told the board at that meeting that the Motorola proposal would save the county more than $500,000 compared to the leading vendor identified through the original bidding process, according to meeting minutes. The board chair had identified potential legal issues with that original vendor, though the nature of those issues has not been disclosed.

During the commissioner comment period at the end of the Aug. 18 meeting, multiple commissioners said they want more information before any Motorola agreement is finalized. Board Chair Joe Derocha acknowledged the tension in the room, saying commissioners share the public's concern but also have a fiduciary responsibility to taxpayers.

No future meeting dates or public forums on the 911 system have been announced. Residents with non-emergency dispatch inquiries can contact Marquette County Central Dispatch at 906-475-9912.