Kootenai County commissioners approve Specialty Court stipend, nurse position conversion and multiple leave-policy revisions

Kootenai County commissioners on Feb. 20 approved a set of human-resources changes including a one-year stipend for a Specialty Court judicial assistant, a position conversion in juvenile detention and multiple updates to county leave and insurance policies tied to the countys new short-term disability benefit.

Lisa Cheesebrow, representing Specialty Court, told the board the court requests an annual stipend of $1,500 to compensate the judicial assistant who will take on additional administrative duties tied to the Administrative District Judge role. Cheesebrow said the stipend would be paid from the countys employee bonus line item for fiscal year 2025 and described the request as a one-year payment while the county evaluates longer-term budgeting and tax-treatment options.

Human Resources Director Sylvia Proud framed several policy changes as technical clarifications required now that the county provides a short-term disability (STD) wage benefit. Among the changes the board approved: sick leave accruals would not be earned or available while an employee is receiving the countys STD benefit; STD runs concurrently with Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave and has a 14-day waiting period and typically covers 60% of wages; and employees may not supplement STD payments with paid leave after the waiting period. Proud and staff said legal and the auditors office reviewed the revisions.

The board approved conversion of one full-time registered nurse position (position 6104) in juvenile detention to two part-time positions (two 20-hour-per-week roles). Juvenile detention Director Sheffield told commissioners the change will increase scheduling flexibility and reduce benefits costs; each part-time nurse would be eligible for PERSI only. Sheffield also requested a two-week, 40-hour overlap between the outgoing full-time nurse and one of the new part-time hires to support training. The auditor provided a cost-savings projection attached to the conversion request, according to Sheffield.

Other approved policy updates included: - Sick leave policy (3-13): Clarifies accruals while on STD, accrual-credit rules for employees who have not actively worked six months, and that accrual balances do not guarantee continued employment. The board voted to forward and approve the proposed revisions. - Family and military leave (3-24): States that STD runs concurrently with FMLA, requires use of paid accruals during the 14-day STD waiting period if available, and clarifies concurrency with workers compensation where applicable. - Leave of absence without pay and military leave (3-22): Separates personal unpaid leave from military leave language; notes that county-paid group health ends after six months of no-work status and that employees may elect COBRA; confirms county will pay full hourly wage during required military leave for up to 15 eight-hour days (120 hours) per year. - Vacation policy (3-11): Adds that vacation will not accrue or be usable while on STD, and that accrued unused vacation hours are paid out upon separation or status change if the employee has been employed at least six months (payout based on rate at separation). Commissioners discussed whether the qualifying period should be 6 or 12 months and agreed to keep 6 months now and revisit after data collection. - Insurance programs (3-50): Adds the countys short-term disability plan to the insurance policy, documents PERSI, COBRA procedures, and formalizes an enhanced employee-assistance program available to sheriffs office sworn staff and their families; HR staff said the enhanced EAP has been in place about 18 months.

Commissioners voted unanimously on each motion. Votes were recorded with the three commissioners present: Commissioner Everline (aye), Commissioner Duncan (aye) and Chair Metari (aye).

The board also entered executive session under statutory authority for personnel matters and later exited, with a public motion directing staff to proceed as discussed; no additional public details were released.

Commissioners and HR staff said many of the policy changes were forwarded to legal and the auditor for review and that the revisions aim to align county leave rules with the new STD benefit and clarify employee obligations and payroll treatment. Sylvia Proud said staff will monitor payouts and bring back data to the board for future adjustments.

While most items were procedural or technical, commissioners asked operational questions about implementation and oversight: how the stipend would be budgeted if converted to a recurring line item, how the nurse conversion would affect service continuity, and whether the six-month threshold for vacation payout should be extended. Board members agreed to track outcomes and revisit policies after collecting implementation data.

The meeting began at 10:10 a.m. and adjourned at approximately 11:05 a.m.