Beltrami County

Emergency Management

Beltrami County's Emergency Management program is part of the Beltrami County Sheriff's Office. Emergency Management is responsible for the development and implementation of an all-hazard emergency plan to guide county personnel and resources during times of disaster and crisis including but not limited to naturally occurring disasters, accidental or intentional man-made disasters, disease outbreak and many other potential situations. We participate in many preparedness initiatives including Winter Hazard Awareness Week, Severe Weather Awareness Week and National Preparedness Month. In addition we engage the public at many events throughout the county and try to make as many invitations as we receive to talk about resiliency and preparedness in our communities.

Beltrami County transitioned Emergency Notification Systems to Everbridge in 2026.

Everbridge enables Beltrami County visitors and residents to receive alerts for a myriad of emergency situations when public safety professionals determine warning is necessary. Messages can be delivered by text message, phone calls, email, mobile app and TTY/TTD.

While Everbridge is the service Beltrami County accesses IPAWS for Wireless Emergency Alerts and Emergency Alert System, the text and call features are OPT-IN. Those who wish to receive Beltrami County emergency alerts by text/phone must enroll through the Everbridge Portal.

Beltrami County decommissioned CodeRED in 2025 and residents should no longer expect notifications from that vendor.

Beltrami County's most recent Hazard Mitigation Plan

Beltrami County Emergency Management is responsible for our volunteer organizations in Beltrami County, including the Posse, North Country First Responders and the Paul Bunyan Amateur Radio Club. Our volunteers are greatly appreciated and assist in search and rescue, traffic control, public events, the fair, communications and emergency medical response. If you are interested in volunteering, click here for an application.

While Beltrami County doesn't own any outdoor warning sirens, we do activate them for the communities and facilities that have them. The following locations have sirens: City of Bemidji, Lake Bemidji State Park, City of Kelliher, Waskish (Big Bog State Park) and the City of Blackduck.

Sirens are activated to provide those outdoors to go inside and seek additional information from the news, internet or NOAA Weather Radio. In Beltrami County, outdoor warning sirens are used for dangerous weather. When winds are expected to exceed 80MPH and during tornado warnings sirens will sound. They will sound for approximately three minutes. Just because the siren stops doesn't mean the hazard is over. There is no "all clear" activation. One exception is the Lake Bemidji State Park's siren is activated for all severe thunderstorm warnings.

The Leech Lake Reservation has two sirens that are located in the Pennington Community and the Mission Community Center. These sirens are not activated by Beltrami County and activate by Cass County.

Connect With Us

Law Enforcement Center
613 Minnesota Ave NW
Bemidji, MN 56601

Phone: 218-333-9111

Hours: 8:00 am - 4:30 pm
Mon - Fri

Emergency service
always available 911

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