Shelby County board approves coroner appointment, opioid grants and rescue‑squad resolution; tables ADP payroll contract

Shelby County Board members on Jan. 9, 2025 approved a slate of appointments and funding requests, including two awards from the county’s opioid settlement fund, accepted several highway bid awards and adopted a resolution establishing a Shelby County Rescue Squad. The board also voted to seek an outside vendor to perform county payroll functions by Jan. 31, 2025, then tabled action on a specific contract with ADP while staff and vendors continue technical work.

The votes followed lengthy public presentations and discussion. Natalie Inman, coordinator of the substance‑abuse department for Shelby County Community Services, asked the board to approve $15,561 from opioid settlement money to support treatment, prevention and criminal‑justice outreach. “The funds that are obtained through the Illinois Opioid Allocation Agreement will allow Shelby County Community Services to better treat individuals with opioid use disorders and or co‑occurring disorders,” Inman said. The board approved that request unanimously.

The board also approved a separate request of $11,610.50 to fund Recovery Oriented Systems of Care (ROSC) activities in Shelby County. ROSC representative Skyler Miller told the board the funds would support recovery materials, transportation for people in treatment, resource and hygiene kits for people exiting jail and youth prevention items for school programs. “Providing phones to individuals transitioning out of jail can be a transformative step,” Miller said. The motion passed on a roll call vote.

Why it matters: the board has budgeted settlement money and members said they wanted to begin deploying it to local providers rather than let funds sit unused. Both providers said they will be required to report on use of the settlement funds to state and federal authorities as part of the allocation agreement.

Coroner appointment and disputed process

The board voted to appoint the person listed on the meeting agenda to the Shelby County coroner position. During the discussion several board members raised questions about who has the statutory authority to name an interim coroner after a vacancy. One board member warned, “if we move ahead with this, we are going to get into a lawsuit,” and asked for a legal review or a closed‑session discussion with the county’s counsel. Other board members said they had spoken to the nominee and believed she met qualifications for the office and would “faithfully discharge the duties of the office.” The motion to appoint carried and an oath was administered; the transcript reflects a discrepancy between the name listed on the agenda and the name sworn at the meeting, which the board clerk subsequently should confirm in the official minutes and appointment paperwork.

County payroll: direction to outsource, ADP contract tabled

Board members heard that the treasurer’s office will stop processing payroll on Jan. 31, and the county clerk requested that the board approve seeking an outside payroll vendor to ensure continuity of pay and statutory filings. The board voted to authorize the clerk to pursue outsourcing as a short‑term patch to guarantee paychecks, filings (Form 941, W‑2s), and other payroll reporting. Several members emphasized employee protections and contract/union constraints as priorities.

The board has been in discussions with ADP about a county contract. Supervisors and department heads described ADP staff as experienced and reported that ADP had proposed assigned implementation teams and staff portals. Board members voted to table the contract approval so staff can return with a complete contract and additional implementation details, including how ADP would integrate or replace existing timekeeping systems and handle union‑covered positions.

Highway bids, bridge engineering agreements

County Highway Engineer items (aggregate, oil, chip, culvert and pugmill bids) were approved and awarded to the low bidders as presented. The board also approved a petition from Ash Grove Township to remove a failing 72‑inch corrugated metal pipe and replace it with two 72‑inch CMPs (estimated cost $23,573). Two engineering agreements with consulting firms were approved for bridge design work: Chastain Associates LLC for structure SN 087‑3279 (estimated design cost $55,000) and Testing Associates for structure SN 087‑3053 (estimated design cost $55,500). Construction contracts for those projects were noted as coming back to the board when ready.

Rescue Squad resolution approved

After a brief presentation and acknowledgement of local and state partners who supported the enabling law, the board unanimously approved a draft resolution establishing the Shelby County Rescue Squad as described in the read‑ahead materials. The chairman thanked local legislators and county staff for their work on the enabling legislation and local implementation.

Illinois Funds presentation

Two representatives from the Illinois State Treasurer’s Office — Erin Sloan (deputy director of outreach) and Denise McClung (deputy director of operations) — gave a 50th‑anniversary presentation on Illinois Funds, a local government investment pool the office manages. Sloan summarized the pool’s priorities: preservation of principal, liquidity and competitive yield, and said the pool currently manages roughly $21,000,000,000 on behalf of about 1,500 participating public entities. “You put a dollar in. We want to make sure that you’re able to get a dollar out,” Sloan said. She also said the Illinois Funds’ current yield quoted at the meeting was about 4.539 percent and emphasized daily interest accrual and same‑day/next‑day liquidity for withdrawals requested before the program’s cut‑off time.

What’s next

Board staff will(1) confirm and document the coroner appointment paperwork and any legal questions raised during the meeting, (2) finalize outsourcing scopes and contract terms for county payroll and return with a proposed contract for consideration, (3) administer the opioid grants with reporting back to the board and (4) bring construction contracts and any additional highway project documents back for future votes. Several members asked county staff to prioritize employee continuity and payroll reporting in any vendor proposal.

Quotes and attributions in this story come from the meeting transcript: Natalie Inman, Skyler Miller, Erin Sloan and a board member who raised legal concerns. The board’s official minutes and the clerk’s office will have the formal, final records and vote tallies.