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Park County department heads review courthouse security, IT rollout and budget risks at March 19 meeting
Summary
Department heads met March 19 to discuss courthouse security after a nearby courthouse incident, problems with a new records/car system that disrupted dispatch and ticketing, the county's $250,000 general-fund gap and uncertainty about federal PILT payments, and an HR transition during open-enrollment season.
Park County department heads and staff met on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, to review courthouse safety, an IT rollout that has disrupted law-enforcement reporting, and the county’s near-term budget outlook.
At the start of the safety discussion, a member of the county safety team said the meeting should prioritize courthouse security after an active-shooter incident last week at the Lewis and Clark County courthouse. The safety team member recommended another sheriff’s-department active-shooter training for county staff and noted the importance of staff knowing evacuation routes and hiding options. "Knowing what to do and acting quickly... should remain a top priority for us," the safety team member said.
The meeting also set a county Safety Day for June 12, with two identical sessions so staff can attend a morning or afternoon session. Participants said the commission would likely provide lunch during the event.
Information-technology issues took center stage in department updates. County IT staff and department heads reported that a new car/records system, which went live on the prior Monday, is not parsing data correctly for local dispatch and is forcing deputies to enter ticket data manually. One IT staff member said the problem required recabling and new switches and that the team had worked for weeks to deploy the system; another noted the rollout briefly interrupted driver-services operations. Department heads said the manual entry requirement is causing officers to take their eyes off drivers while entering information, and dispatchers have asked county IT for a quick fix so they do not have to enter VIN numbers manually.
Human resources also appeared on the agenda. Hailey, Human Resources staff, said she will leave the county next Friday and that the HR position was posted internally; two internal applicants applied and interviews are likely in April, with the county’s staffing contractor taking over the process if needed. Hailey urged department heads to remind employees about in-person open-enrollment that will be held in April and said she will circulate interim contact information during the transition.
Budget concerns were raised near the end of the meeting. A staff member reported the general fund was about $250,000 over budget in recent months and said the county must plan with that shortfall in mind. Discussion focused on Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT), the federal program that provides counties with payments for federal land within their boundaries; participants said PILT is typically confirmed in June and that uncertainty this year could force budget adjustments. Meeting participants noted previous support for PILT from Sen. Jon Tester and said the county staff was in touch with the congressional delegation and Senate offices about the issue.
Other department updates included the temporary relocation of museum staff to alternate office space because of building damage and mold; department-head outreach appointments scheduled through mid-May; and a reminder that Catherine Daley would give a 10-minute presentation on a housing coalition at the next commission workshop.
No formal votes or ordinances were taken at the department head meeting. Staff and department heads agreed to continue scheduling one-on-one department briefings and to follow up on the IT parsing problem, the HR transition and open enrollment, and preparations for Safety Day.
