Kari's Law: Making it Easier to Call 911 From a Hotel Room (H.R. 582)

What is H.R. 582?

(Updated July 18, 2019)

This bill was enacted on February 16, 2018

Kari's Law would require multi-line telephone systems (such as in hotels and offices) to allow users to directly call 911 emergency services without dialing any additional “digit, code, prefix, or post-fix.”

The bill would affect anyone who manufactures, imports, sells, leases, or installs multi-line telephone systems. At every step of the way, the legislation would require phone systems to be designed and configured to allow direct calls to 911. Even if a system usually requires an additional digit to make outgoing calls (such as a leading 9), 9-1-1 would need to be dial-able directly.

Additionally, the bill would require multi-line phone systems to be configured in a way that notifies onsite personnel when anyone in the facility calls 911 — as long as the system is capable of such a feature.

Argument in favor

Calling emergency services should be as simple as possible. Children — and panicking adults — should be able to pick up the nearest phone and dial 911, without any extra digits.

Argument opposed

The intentions of this bill are noble, but hotels should introduce these upgrades themselves — without taking up precious Congressional voting time that should be spent on more pressing issues.

Impact

People and companies that manufacture, import, sell, lease, or install multi-line telephone systems; Hotel owners and management; People who may find themselves in an emergency situation in a hotel.

Cost of H.R. 582

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In Depth: This bill is named for Kari Hunt, who was stabbed to death by her estranged husband in a hotel room in Texas in 2013. Her 9-year-old daughter attempted to call 911 four times during the incident, but was thwarted by the phone system, which required an additional digit to establish a call.

Hunt’s father, Hank, led the charge for this bill, as well as a similar Kari’s Law that was signed in Texas in May 2015.

Sponsoring Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) said offered the following statement when he introduced this bill during the last session of Congress:

“It is clear that our 9-1-1 system failed in a time of need. No longer should a child, or anyone for that matter, pick up the phone to call for help and get nothing…While this legislation will not reverse the heartbreaking loss of Kari and all the horrors of that day, hopefully, her legacy will safeguard others – so they may never experience a situation of this magnitude.”