Public-safety committee approves sending drug-and-alcohol coordinator backfill to personnel

The county’s alternative‑sentencing program reported on Aug. 26 that the senior drug‑and‑alcohol program coordinator will retire in October and asked permission to backfill that role at a lower grade.
Staff said the current senior coordinator is a grade 16 position paid about $32.19 per hour; the department proposed refilling the role as a grade 15 position (approximately $28.43 per hour) and then adjusting a program‑specialist slot (grade 13) downward to a program assistant (grade 9) to reflect changed duties and save costs. The department said the senior coordinator performs court‑ordered evaluations (about 100 evaluations per year) and supports DWI diversion and felony drug court programming, which requires specialized training and supervision.
Committee members asked whether the drug‑and‑alcohol evaluation duty is state‑mandated; staff replied it is not mandated but the county receives about $14,300 annually through a classification grant tied to substance‑abuse services and that the evaluations and tracking are core to court processing. The committee approved moving the staffing pattern change to the personnel committee for review and subsequent action.
Staff emphasized that the proposed adjustments are a “trickle‑down” plan: advancing one internal staff member into the coordinator role would free a program‑specialist slot that the department plans to reclassify to support front‑desk and intake duties.