Adopted by the Board of Supervisors on February 16, 2012

It is the policy of Johnson County to keep its facilities and services available to the public during periods of emergencies and inclement weather to the extent possible that is compatible with the health and safety of the public and County employees.

During emergencies or periods of inclement weather, the following procedure shall apply:

  1. The Chairperson of the Board of Supervisors (or Vice Chairperson in the absence of the Chairperson; if neither is available, the next Supervisor available according to seniority in office), in consultation with other elected officials when possible, will make the determination whether to close County buildings/offices to routine business. The following resources may assist in making the decision:
    • Recommendation of affected department heads/elected officials
    • Recommendation of the Johnson County Emergency Management Coordinator
    • Recommendation of the Johnson County Sheriff
    • Recommendation/order of the fire department and/or law enforcement agency having jurisdiction
    • National Weather Service weather forecast for the Johnson County area
    • Iowa Department of Transportation road condition reports for the Johnson County area
    • Implementation of a tow ban by the Iowa State Patrol in the Johnson County area
    • Road condition reports from the Johnson County Engineer
    • Decisions by the State of Iowa affecting State employees who work in the County buildings.
    • Iowa City, Coralville and Cambus transit service closures
    • Any other application resource.
       
  2. When the Chair/Board of Supervisors determines that due to an emergency or inclement weather, steps must be taken to protect County employees and the public, one of the following choices will be made:
    • County buildings will remain open to the public. Employees performing non-essential functions are expected to make a reasonable effort to report for work. However, employees will not be expected to report to work if, in the employee's judgement, such action would place their personal safety at risk. These employees must report such absences to their supervisor/department head/elected official as soon as possible. Employees unable to report to work or who voluntarily leave work early due to inclement weather of other emergency may use vacation, compensatory time, personal days, or unpaid leave of absence in accordance with the Johnson County Employee Handbook and applicable collective bargaining agreements.
    • One or more County buildings will be closed to the public and employees are required to report work work possibly at an alternate site(s) as directed.
    • One or more County buildings will be closed to the public, but employees are permitted to enter the building(s) to work with department head/elected official approval. The building will remain closed to the public until authorized reopened by the Chair/Board of Supervisors.
    • One or more County buildings will be closed to everyone except essential personnel and if there is authorization from the Chair/Board of Supervisors to be present
      • Employees entering the buildings without authorization may be subject to discipline
      • Essential personnel is defined as those employees performing essential emergency, public safety, road and building maintenance, transportation, and health care related functions; employees performing temporary duties as part of a disaster response plan by the County, legal personnel when State offices are open; employees performing essential election functions on an election day or within 24 hours before or after an election day; and other essential functions as determined by the Chair/Board of Supervisors.
      • Essential personnel are expected to report to work during said emergency closures unless excused by their department head/elected official.
      • All offices will be closed until authorized by the Chair/Board of Supervisors.
    • one or more County buildings will be closed to all persons, including County employees and the public. The applicable buildings will be locked.
      • Employees entering the building(s) may be subject to discipline.
      • All offices will be closed until authorized by the Chair/Board of Supervisors.
         
  3. The closure of County buildings/offices will be announced using multiple means of communication, including messages using the Code Red system, emails via the County network and press releases to local media radio and television. Department heads/elected officials will be responsible for contacting their staff
     
  4. Compensation:
    • Unless addressed in a collective bargaining agreement, regular compensation will continue for up to one day for employees scheduled to work when the County Offices are closed pursuant to paragraphs B (2) or (3) above as long as employees remain able and available for work and are reachable during their normal work hours.
      • Employees scheduled off work due to vacation, personal, sick, etc. must use the corresponding approved leave.
      • Employees not scheduled to work will not receive compensation.
    • Employees not able and available for work when their county building is closed may utilize available paid time off, i.e. vacation or personal day with supervisory approval.
    • Compensation for building closures longer than one day will be addressed by the Board of Supervisors on a case-by-case basis and will follow applicable collective bargaining agreements.
    • Essential personnel whose normal place of work is closed pursuant to Section B (4) or (5) above, but who must work during emergencies or inclement weather will be granted a personal day hour-for-hour worked up to eight (8) hours.