Davison County Commissioners have agreed to operate county offices this week with partial staff in an effort to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
The Commission conducted a telephonic meeting late Saturday afternoon that lasted just over an hour where they developed a plan with assistance of Deputy States Attorney James Taylor, Auditor Susan Kiepke and Register of Deeds Deb Young.
According to the plan, Department heads will recommend to Commission chairwoman Brenda Bode which staff they want to work this week, while others stay at home or work remotely. All county employees will receive their pay.
Commissioners agreed conducting county business was essential even in a limited fashion.
Commissioners Kiner, Claggett, Reider and Bode voted “yes”. Commissioner Kim Weitala was absent for the vote for personal reasons.
This takes effect Monday and will last for at least a week.
Here’s the text of the emergency declaration:
As the Governor of South Dakota has given a directive that non-essential state personnel will stay home; and considering Davison County is a political sub-division of South Dakota, Davison County has declared that all non-essential personnel stay home for the week of March 16-20. This means specifically that all departments, other than law enforcement and emergency services, will operate primarily through department heads, with the least amount of personnel necessary to discharge essential functions. If you are a department head and fall ill, the next in line will take charge, as always. If you feel you need staff in addition to yourself in order to discharge essential functions, you must additional staffing approved in advance by Chairman Bode, whose phone number is 999-9861. All employees who are home are expected to work from home, if possible. As this is involuntary for employees, they will be paid as if they are here. However, any working essential personnel or those working from home will not receive extra pay.
The health and safety of our customers, communities and employees are of primary concern. We ask that you be patient as we all work through this unique and unprecedented situation.
Essential services will remain open. However, the public is strongly encouraged to do as much business as possible on-line. For questions regarding on-line business, please call the following numbers with any questions. There will be a guide to on-line services posted on our web site which is www.davisoncounty.org
Auditor/Welfare Assistance – 995-8608; Treasurer – 995-8617; Register of Deeds – 995-8616; Director of Equalization – 995-8613; Emergency Management/Planning & Zoning – 995-8640; Veteran’s Service Office – 995-8619; Highway Department – 995-8625; Sheriff – 995-8630; States Attorney – 995-8627. If you’re not sure who to call, you may call 995-8608 and the auditor will try to assist you.