The Stephenson County Board voted Oct. 8 to amend the county's holiday calendar to add Election Day as a county holiday for county administration.

The amendment was described to the board as a correction to a prior holiday calendar that had omitted Election Day; the county clerk said adding the day would allow her office to close for routine services and allocate staff to support elections without competing duties such as issuing birth certificates or recording documents.

Board members discussed questions of fairness between employees in different parts of county government and court operations. One member noted that some courts receive judicially ordered holidays and that those local court schedules can create differences in days off across county departments; the board did not alter court schedules, which remain set by the judiciary.

Motion and vote: A motion to approve the amendment to the holiday calendar adding Election Day passed without dissent.

Officials said they will circulate the revised calendar to departments and asked staff to ensure the clerks' office and other affected functions plan for Election Day staffing needs.