By Rich Larson
The Rice & Steele 911 Dispatch Center will begin operating from its new home in Faribault on Wednesday, Nov. 4. The move also brings a new non-emergency phone number for residents of both counties.
The center is moving to the lower level of the Rice County Law Enforcement Center at 118 Third St. NW in Faribault. According to Rice County, the center’s administrative and non-emergency line will change to 507-209-0380 that day.
Residents should keep using the current numbers until Nov. 4. After the move, calls to the old numbers will be forwarded to the new line for 30 days. The change does not affect 911 service, and anyone with an emergency should continue to call 911.
The center has operated from the Law Enforcement Center in Owatonna, which it shares with the Owatonna Police Department. Rice and Steele counties and the cities of Faribault, Northfield and Owatonna have run the center jointly since the late 1990s. It serves about 105,000 residents, plus travelers on Interstate 35 and Highway 14. Dispatchers handle roughly 120,000 calls a year for eight law enforcement agencies, nine fire departments and two EMS agencies.
A 2021 space needs study found the center was 1,230 square feet short of what it needed. That gap grew to 1,870 square feet when future needs were included. According to the county, remodeling the Owatonna space would have required many concessions and would not have left room to grow. Officials also considered adding a floor to that building and moving to other sites.
The lower level of the Faribault building became available after the Rice County Sheriff’s Office moved its offices and jail to a new Public Safety Center in late 2024. A renovation contract was awarded in October 2025. Rice County will continue to own and operate the building.
Rich Larson is the owner and General manager of KYMN Radio. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
