Clark County 9-1-1 Coms Center dedicated to memories of Deputies Hopper, Yates

SPRINGFIELD — Two Clark County Sheriff’s deputies who gave the ultimate sacrifice now will forever be remembered through the county’s new 9-1-1 Communications Center.

State and local leaders officially dedicated the 9-1-1 center Friday to honor fallen heroes Deputies Suzanne Hopper and Matthew Yates.

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“They stayed focused on their goal to protect those in our community,” county Commissioner Melanie Flax Wilt said at the dedication ceremony.

Hopper was killed in Enon on New Year’s Day 2011, Yates in Harmony Twp. in July 2022.

“Each fulfilled their purpose to protect this community and its people,” Flax Wilt said.

Plaques for each deputy were unveiled at the ceremony.

The communications center opened in March.

In May 2013, the Ohio House unanimously passed Senate Bill 7, the Deputy Suzanne Hopper Act, which Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law.

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The Hopper Act requires a court to report certain information to local law enforcement after a person who has been ordered to be evaluated or treated for mental illness is found guilty or convicted of a violent offense.

A court would also need to report to local law enforcement information regarding the conditional release of a person found incompetent to stand trial or not guilty by reason of insanity who has previously been committed to a hospital or treatment facility.

In June, a portion of U.S. 40 in Clark County was dedicated as “Sheriff Deputy Matthew Yates Memorial Highway.”

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