RAPID CITY, S.D. – A communication disruption is currently affecting non-emergency phone lines at the Pennington County Emergency Services Communications Center, officials announced late Monday night.

The center, based in Rapid City, serves as the central hub for local public safety communications. While the outage restricts the public from using standard administrative and non-emergency lines, emergency services remain fully accessible.

Authorities confirmed that both calls and text messages to 911 are completely operational. Rapid City and Pennington County residents who require immediate assistance and cannot connect through non-emergency channels are advised to dial 911.

Officials urged the public not to call 911 simply to test whether the system is working, as unnecessary calls can delay actual emergency responses. Technical teams are actively working to resolve the issue and restore full connectivity to the Rapid City area network.