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Colfax County moves to replace personnel ordinance with new personnel policy; commissioners flag edits and ordinance repeal steps
Summary
Commissioners reviewed a proposed Colfax County personnel policy intended to replace existing ordinance language. County attorney and sheriff said the policy would be adopted after targeted ordinance repeal; commissioners requested specific edits on pay, leave payout timing and approval authority for raises.
Colfax County commissioners reviewed a multi-section personnel policy draft that, if approved, would supersede parts of a standing county ordinance and establish updated rules for pay, leave payouts and other personnel procedures.
County Attorney (recorded in the meeting as "Mister Sherman") advised that the appropriate process is to approve the policy pending repeal of the ordinance. "If we were to repeal the ordinance at this time, it would leave some gaps," Sherman said, recommending a staged repeal so the new policy can take effect in sequence.
Commissioners and the sheriff discussed several specific changes they want reflected before final adoption. Commissioners asked for the sheriff to be included in language about deputy salary alignment, and they asked that pay-scale references be updated to current salary schedules. On leave payouts, commissioners noted a statutory timing requirement and asked the policy's lump-sum payout timing be amended to match state law: "Unused annual leave has to be paid out within 5 days, 5 business days," Sherman stated.
The commissioners also debated language that would allow department heads to grant raises up to a percentage in-year. One commissioner said that raises made within one fiscal year affect recurring budgets and should therefore come to the commission for approval or at least be limited to smaller thresholds; the attorney and sheriff agreed to refine draft language to clarify thresholds and approval routes.
On other items, commissioners asked for changes to sections about jury-duty pay handling, inclement-weather closings (expressing concern about simply following school decisions), and mechanics for transitioning staff where ordinances currently govern. The sheriff and county attorney said they would refine the draft and return the revised policy and a plan to repeal the ordinance for formal adoption at a later meeting.
No final adoption occurred at the meeting; commissioners voted to treat the draft as a discussion item and requested targeted edits to be returned for formal consideration when ordinance repeal steps are ready.
