Hardin Police Radios Bought With Coal Board Grant; Full Interoperability Still Unclear

Hardin police received $113,457.80 in Montana Coal Board support for 15 Motorola radios, according to the Montana Department of Commerce. The purchase was intended to improve communication with surrounding emergency agencies, but records reviewed through August 4, 2026, do not document whether every unit has been programmed, tested and placed into routine interoperable service.

Hardin is a city in Big Horn County, Montana. The city police department provides municipal law-enforcement services, while Big Horn County operates the county’s emergency communications center.

Grant supported a $153,457.80 project plan

Commerce reported July 1, 2026, that Hardin used 2025 Coal Board funding to purchase 15 Motorola radios for the Hardin Police Department. The announcement quoted City Finance Officer and City Clerk Andrew Lehr saying the radios were intended to improve the department’s safety and effectiveness.

The Coal Board application and staff-review materials identified a total proposed project cost of $153,457.80. The application requested $113,457.80 from the Coal Board and included a proposed $40,000 City of Hardin contribution. Those figures describe the grant application and approved funding structure; the reviewed records do not establish the final amount spent, including any installation, programming, training or related costs.

Application identified a radio-interoperability gap

The application said the department lacked P25-capable radios and could not reliably communicate with other law-enforcement agencies, fire departments and emergency medical services through its existing system. The application presented P25 equipment as a way to improve interoperability during routine calls and multi-agency emergencies.

The application also connected the request to coal-related economic changes and described the need for improved public-safety communications in Hardin. Those statements are part of the city’s grant case and should not be treated as an independent finding about crime trends or agency performance.

Earlier dispatch arrangement created communication concerns

KTVQ reported in 2025 that Hardin police had relied on a dispatch service based in Alabama and on cell-phone service. Then-Police Chief Paul George told KTVQ that losing cell service could also cut off radio contact with dispatch and said the arrangement had contributed to gaps in communication and incomplete reports.

KTVQ separately reported historical conflict between Hardin police and Big Horn County dispatch, including a period when calls for service were routed through an alternative private dispatch service. That account was based on statements from Hardin officials and described the history at the time; it does not by itself establish the current dispatch arrangement or prove that the new radios restored county dispatch service.

Radio interoperability and the separate legal or administrative question of which agency dispatches Hardin police are not the same issue.

County 911 answering point remains separate from police-radio status

Big Horn County says its dispatch center is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and serves as the county’s Public Safety Answering Point for Enhanced 9-1-1. The county lists the center at 121 3rd Street West in Hardin and says it uses computer-aided dispatch and records-management systems.

That confirms the existence of a continuously staffed county 911 answering point. It does not, by itself, confirm how calls for service are routed to Hardin police officers or whether Hardin officers can now communicate routinely with county dispatch, neighboring law-enforcement agencies, fire departments and EMS through the new radios.

Current implementation details remain the accountability question

Commerce’s July 1 announcement confirms the purchase of 15 Motorola radios. A December 2025 Commerce account also referred to new police radios among safety enhancements supported by Coal Board grants in Hardin and Big Horn County. Neither item documents the full implementation sequence for this project.

The reviewed public record does not provide a current, itemized confirmation of whether all 15 radios have been delivered, installed, programmed, field-tested, assigned to officers, supported by training and placed into regular service. It also does not confirm whether the radios have been tested on the channels used by Big Horn County dispatch or neighboring agencies, or whether any technical, training, maintenance or funding issues remain.

For Hardin residents, the distinction is practical. Big Horn County’s 24-hour Enhanced 9-1-1 center is operating, but the effectiveness of the radio project depends on completed setup and reliable communication among the agencies responding to calls. The state announcement confirms an important equipment purchase; it is not, by itself, documentation that the entire communications system is fully operational.

Sources

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