Treutlen Board of Commissioners Switch Emergency Notification Platforms

The Treutlen County Board of Commissioners elected to swap their main emergency notification platform from CodeRED to Regroup during their monthly meeting on Feb. 10 in Soperton.

The change was requested due to a cyberattack aimed towards Crisis24, the company which owns CodeRED. The platform is used by city, county and state agencies to issue emergency warnings to residents via phone notifications.

Reportedly, the cyberattack began on Nov. 1 by a cybercriminal group called Inc, encrypting internal files and stealing subscriber data by Nov. 10. In response, Cisis24 suspended access to the platform on Nov. 10 and began moving customers over to a new version of CodeRED, while Inc began selling subscriber information on Nov. 23.

In response, Treutlen County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) began searching for an alternative service, eventually selecting Regroup, a similar notification platform.

“Regroup is exactly the same thing as CodeRED, nothing changes,” said Treutlen County Deputy EMA Director Joseph Glenn. “They take all of our 7,000 contacts, put it in their profile, and then we do out the mass notifications.”

The transition would not be entirely seamless, as residents would have to sign up for the new program. To ease the transition, Regroup offered to provide Treutlen with a QR code residents could scan with their phones to sign up.

“This is a start over type process where we’re doing this from the very beginning,” said Glenn.

According to Glenn, Regroup would also be “significantly cheaper” than CodeRED, costing “around $2,500” with a one-time $800 fee. Other features CodeRED offered for higher prices would also be included with Regroup for no extra cost.

The board’s contract with CodeRED is set to expire in March, and Glenn assured the board a potential auto-renewal was “out of the question” following the cyberattack. So, Commissioner Rodney Meeks offered a motion to swap to Regroup following the contract’s expiration, which passed unanimously.

The board also considered a vacant position on the Treutlen County Tax Assessors Board, following the resignation of Board Chairman Chris Kight on Feb. 5.

Kight wrote the Board of Commissioners a letter recommending Donna Young to the position on the tax assessor board, describing her as “well-respected by her peers” as well as the Georgia Department of Revenue and Department of Audits.

“I believe, by her serving on this board, she’ll be a great asset to the governing authorities and the property owners of Treutlen County as many important changes will be coming forth in the next year,” wrote Kight in his letter.

The board members agreed with Kight’s recommendation, noting Young’s qualifications would make her well-suited to deal with several impending changes from the state legislative cycle. Commissioner Joey Powell offered a motion to appoint Young, which passed unanimously.

Meeks also offered a motion to adopt a new ordinance levying fines and jail time for damaging county roads with heavy machinery, which passed unanimously. 

For multiple months, the board has discussed a potential ordinance addressing heavy machinery travelling on dirt and paved roads, causing damage at the expense of the county government. The board was in agreement to eventually draft an ordinance to hold companies and individuals responsible for those damages.

According to the ordinance, damages caused by tract vehicles and heavy equipment operated on county roads, paved or dirt, may incur fines up to $1,000, up to 30 days in Treutlen County Jail and “restitution at the cost of the repair.” Permission from the Board of Commissioners will be required to operate equipment on paved roads.

The ordinance will take effect on April 1.