County facilities clarifies after‑hours door‑access procedure; staff told to email requests to a shared alias

Johnson County facilities staff reviewed a proposed standard operating procedure for after‑hours door access and asked departments to send meeting access requests by email so three staff can see and respond.

The facilities representative said they will change the SOP to require email requests rather than paper work orders so that the request will be visible to multiple people. “Send me an email and include Adam and Bill on it. And then, hopefully, between the 3 of us, somebody will catch it,” the facilities staff member said.

Facilities staff warned that requests sent very close to meeting time — for example, an email at 4:15 p.m. asking to unlock doors that night — risk being missed. They asked departments to schedule requests at least a week in advance where possible; the scheduling system can only schedule events a week out.

Staff also explained how elevator and door programming works: elevator access is tied to the building’s flag entrance schedule, so when the flagged entrance is open, elevator access to the third floor is enabled. Facilities staff said conference room doors can be programmed to unlock for meetings, but departments should ensure someone responsible is present while doors are open. Deputies from the sheriff’s office can be requested for post‑meeting walkthroughs if needed.

Facilities said they will create a single email alias that routes to the three staff members who can approve after‑hours access and asked departments to include meeting details and times in the request. The SOP will require department head or elected official approval for access when the requester is not a regular meeting scheduler.

Why it matters: The change centralizes after‑hours access requests, reduces single‑person dependencies, and clarifies responsibility for on‑site supervision when doors and elevators are unlocked.