Officials name new Randolph County 911 director

ELKINS – The Randolph County Commission has hired a new director of 911 and the Randolph County Office of Emergency Management. 

Commission President Cris Siler and Commissioner David Kesling approved the hiring of Michael Miller during Thursday's regular meeting at the James F. Cain Courthouse Annex. Fellow commissioner Chris See asked to recuse himself from voting because his son once worked with Miller.

"We went through an interview process, took in 20 applications and picked out five who were the most qualified," Siler said. "Out of those five, they were all really good applicants and all very qualified for the position. But we had one stand out that had a lot more qualifications when it came to director of 911 and emergency services, and national disaster-type response things, and that was Michael Miller." 

Miller, who retired from the Army National Guard after 39 years of service in November, was hired to replace Shonna Fox, who was removed from the position of OEM Director in March. Fox was hired in December 2021.

"I'm very pleased that the County Commission is giving me the opportunity to be the new OEM director in Randolph County," Miller told The Inter-Mountain. "I want to work with the local law, fire and EMS departments to try and improve communications throughout the county. There's a lot of dead spots when it comes to radio communication in Randolph County, so that is something I want to focus on right away." 

Miller previously worked for both the Office of Emergency Management and EMS in Randolph County. He has been a member of the Elkins Fire Department for more than 30 years. Before his retirement, he spent the last 13 years working for the Army National Guard Special Response Team.

Miller said he also wants to improve the way the Office of Emergency Management releases information out to the public. 

"We are going to improve our social media content so that citizens can be better informed of what's going on," Miller said. "And I want to set it up where we have reverse 911 in place. That way we can send messages out to citizens when there is any type of emergency." 

The job is a full-time position with a salary of $60,000 per year and full county benefits. Miller will officially begin work on April 8.