Oct 1, 2026 · 2 min · 3 segments
Texas officials told lawmakers it can take about 36 hours to put every responding agency on one communications plan. The challenge is not only buying radios; it is deciding who sets standards, pays…
Charles BlainHost
The number came from testimony before the Texas House State Affairs Committee on September 14th.
They were reviewing disaster preparedness and whether Texas needs a formal interoperability council to coordinate emergency communications across local, state, and federal lines.
Police, officers, firefighters, paramedics, troopers, and emergency managers, federal responders need to communicate with each other when the normal system is under stress.
And officials described that more than 50 radio systems are in use across the state.
Some cities and counties use networks that don't even connect smoothly with their neighbors.
And in major incidents, some responders carry multiple devices while shared channels can become overloaded.
Texas Division of Emergency Management said that there is no single statewide state-owned radio system today.
And the issue goes even further than that because a radio can connect and still fail if responders don't know which channel to use, if backup power is missing, or if agencies have not trained together and know how to use the same equipment.
The DPS director told lawmakers the training time is already difficult to fit around existing requirements, and one state rep filed a bill to have a state or described a full statewide bill that has five to ten year project.
And he filed a bill a couple years ago that would have created a Texas Interoperability Council and a grant program, and the bill passed the House but didn't make it through the Senate.
Companion effort and special session also cleared the House, did not make it through the Senate.
Regional systems may be more adaptable to local terrain budgets and existing equipment.
Who knows what could be the outcome? So maybe it's time to push for a county-by-county baseline showing which systems are in use, where mutual aid exists, and how quickly they can establish unified communication so that everyone knows and everyone's on the same page.
The number came from testimony before the Texas House State Affairs Committee on September 14th.
They were reviewing disaster preparedness and whether Texas needs a formal interoperability council to coordinate emergency communications across local, state, and federal lines.
Police, officers, firefighters, paramedics, troopers, and emergency managers, federal responders need to communicate with each other when the normal system is under stress.
And officials described that more than 50 radio systems are in use across the state.
Some cities and counties use networks that don't even connect smoothly with their neighbors.
And in major incidents, some responders carry multiple devices while shared channels can become overloaded.
Texas Division of Emergency Management said that there is no single statewide state-owned radio system today.
And the issue goes even further than that because a radio can connect and still fail if responders don't know which channel to use, if backup power is missing, or if agencies have not trained together and know how to use the same equipment.
The DPS director told lawmakers the training time is already difficult to fit around existing requirements, and one state rep filed a bill to have a state or described a full statewide bill that has five to ten year project.
And he filed a bill a couple years ago that would have created a Texas Interoperability Council and a grant program, and the bill passed the House but didn't make it through the Senate.
Companion effort and special session also cleared the House, did not make it through the Senate.
Regional systems may be more adaptable to local terrain budgets and existing equipment.
Who knows what could be the outcome? So maybe it's time to push for a county-by-county baseline showing which systems are in use, where mutual aid exists, and how quickly they can establish unified communication so that everyone knows and everyone's on the same page.
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