ADRIAN — A looming July 1 deadline means emergency radios across Lenawee County must be upgraded or risk losing communication with neighboring Lucas County.
At the May 8th Emergency 911 District Board meeting, officials confirmed that departments affected by Lucas County’s new link-layer authentication requirement have finalized their radio counts and placed orders for the necessary upgrades. The change, discussed in prior meetings, will block any non-compliant radio from accessing Lucas County’s system.
Each department will be billed $225 per radio, a cost that will be handled directly between Motorola and the individual agencies.
While no firm installation timeline has been provided, Lenawee County has opted to proceed without additional testing, citing confidence based on other Michigan departments that have already completed similar upgrades without issue.
The change is critical for interoperability between counties during emergencies, mutual aid responses, and large-scale events.