County approves new mass notification system, aims for targeted alerts

The Morgan County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on Monday to purchase Motorola Rave Alert as the county new mass notification system, a move county emergency leaders say will reduce unnecessary alerts and improve coordination during emergencies. The contract will cost the county $65,000 over five years and is expected to be implemented in the first quarter of 2026 pending approval from mayors and village leadership across the county.

Phil McCarty, director of the Jacksonville and Morgan County Office of Emergency Management, said the new platform will allow county officials to deliver warnings to specific communities without notifying residents in areas that are not threatened. "The city of Jacksonville is not going to be impacted by a flood in Meredosia," he said, "so we want to try and narrow up those alerts to only get those alerts to people when they are relevant to them." McCarty added that residents can opt in to receive warnings for areas of the county where they do not live, allowing individuals to track locations of work or family if they choose.

County officials cited the tornadoes that struck Morgan County this past summer as a catalyst for change, saying the storms exposed both internal and external communication challenges that the new software is intended to address. The Rave Alert platform will provide what McCarty described as "layers of internal communication" to make it easier for emergency personnel to share information with government partners and other agencies across the county.

Implementation will include a transition period designed to avoid service interruptions. The county plans to run the existing notification platform concurrently with Rave Alert for the first year to ensure a smooth transition. McCarty framed the upgrade as part of an ongoing effort to improve emergency operations, saying, "You don't become Super Bowl champions by just accepting, 'Hey, we won that game,'" he said. "We're always looking for opportunities to improve."

For residents, the change promises more precise alerts and greater control over what warnings they receive. County leaders encourage households to sign up for the system once enrollment details are released and to stay in contact with local municipal offices as the rollout proceeds.