[HISTORY: Adopted by the Suffolk County Legislature as indicated
in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable. Uncodified
sections of local laws amending this chapter are included as an attachment
to this chapter.]
[Adopted 7-29-2014 by L.L. No. 21-2014]
A.Â
This Legislature hereby finds and determines that the County of Suffolk
strives to protect the health and safety of County residents and visitors
to the County. This Legislature further finds and determines that
911 is the United States' universal emergency assistance line.
This Legislature finds that many telephone systems for hotels, motels
and businesses require that a user dial an additional number to obtain
an outside line. This Legislature determines that persons unfamiliar
with such a telephone system will be unable to reach emergency services
in a crisis, which can lead to disastrous results.
B.Â
This Legislature also finds that, on December 1, 2013, Kari Hunt
was fatally attacked in a Texas hotel by her estranged husband. This
Legislature further finds that Kari's nine-year-old daughter
tried calling 911 during the struggle, but was unable to make a connection
because she didn't realize she needed to first dial 9 for an
outside line. This Legislature also determines that tragic stories
like Kari's illustrate the necessity of having multi-line telephone
systems that directly dial 911 without delay.
C.Â
This Legislature further determines that experts on multi-line telephone
systems state that direct-dial 911 service can be provided in most
systems through updating of software. This Legislature further finds
that the County should ensure that hotels, motels and businesses that
are open to the general public allow for direct dialing of 911. This
Legislature also finds that all businesses and schools should be encouraged
to update their multi-line telephone systems to allow direct dialing
of 911 to protect the health and safety of their employees.
D.Â
Therefore, the purpose of this article is to require all multi-line
telephone systems operated by a hotel, motel or covered business that
is open to the general public within Suffolk County to directly dial
911 without the use of access codes.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meaning indicated:
Any partnership, joint venture, club, corporation or other
form of business organization which opens its facilities to the general
public for the sale and purchase of goods or services.
An establishment which is regularly used and kept open as
such in a bonafide manner for the feeding and lodging of guests, where
all who conduct themselves properly and who are able and ready to
pay for such services are received if there are accommodations for
them. This term shall include a tourist cabin, camp, resort, tavern,
inn, boardinghouse, lodging house or any other establishment comparable
or equivalent to any of those previously mentioned.
Any system comprised of common control unit(s), telephone
sets, control hardware and software, and adjunct systems which enables
users to make and receive telephone calls using shared resources such
as telephone network trunks or data link bandwidth. This term includes,
but is not limited to, network-based and premises-based systems such
as Centrex service, premises-based, hosted and cloud-based VoIP, as
well as PBX, Hybrid and Key Telephone Systems, as classified by the
FCC under Part 68 of its rules.
A.Â
All hotels, motels and covered businesses which operate a multi-line
telephone system in the County of Suffolk shall configure said system
to allow any call to 911 on the system to be directly connected to
a public safety answering point without the use of an access code.
B.Â
All hotels, motels and covered businesses which operate a multi-line
telephone system in the County of Suffolk shall ensure that the configuration
of said system will also allow any call made on their system where
the system's existing access code is dialed prior to dialing
911 to be directly connected to a public safety answering point.
C.Â
When feasible, without improving system hardware, all hotels, motels
and covered businesses shall configure their multi-line telephone
system to provide notification of any 911 call made on its system
to a centralized location on the same site as the system.
The requirements set forth in § 436-3 of this article shall not apply to any hotel, motel or covered business that would be required to upgrade the hardware of its telephone network to meet said requirements. However, these exempted entities shall be required to place an instructional sticker on or immediately adjacent to each telephone informing users of the phone's inability to directly dial 911 and the procedures to follow in case of an emergency. Each instructional sticker shall be printed in bold, easy-to-read font in a contrasting color with a minimum print size of sixteen-point font.
The Department of Labor, Licensing and Consumer Affairs is hereby
authorized to enforce this article.
A.Â
Violation of this article shall be punishable by a fine of $250 for
an initial offense, with a fine of $500 for any second or subsequent
offenses. Each violation shall be a separate and distinct offense.
B.Â
No fine shall be imposed until after a hearing is held by the Commissioner
of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Consumer Affairs, where
the alleged violator shall have the opportunity to be heard.
This article shall apply to all actions occurring on or after
the effective date of this law.
This article shall take effect on the 180th day immediately
subsequent to filing in the Office of the Secretary of State.
