Hardin County schedules three public hearings to consider declaring EMS an essential county service

The Hardin County Board of Supervisors voted to publish notices for three public hearings to consider declaring emergency medical services (EMS) an essential county service, a designation that would allow voters to decide whether to adopt countywide funding for EMS.

Unidentified Speaker 3, who introduced the item, said the immediate step is only to set hearing dates and follow counsel’s timing requirements: "the initial part of the process after conferring with attorney Meyer is the first part that I hope will pass today is to set 3 public hearing dates" and the board agreed to push notices out roughly 65 days to satisfy the 60-day statutory notice period. The hearings were set for Aug. 20 and Aug. 27 at 9:01 a.m. in the large conference room of the Hardin County Courthouse and Sept. 8 at 7 p.m. in the courthouse courtroom.

The discussion focused on how the county will form an advisory committee to study service standards and funding options. Speaker 3 outlined a proposed advisory structure: one township trustee from each township (15 trustees) plus one representative appointed by each community’s mayor, producing up to about 26 total members. He said the advisory committee would develop service standards and recommended funding levels but would not itself enact a tax; the board and county officials would facilitate ballot language and the election process.

Members of the public and several board participants urged careful outreach and preparation for the hearings. Unidentified Speaker 8 (who introduced himself as John Schmitz) raised concerns about representation, warning that appointing a single representative for larger communities could be unbalanced. John Schmitz said, "I would struggle with the idea of having 1 individual from the 2 larger communities only have 1 representation. I think that would be an unbalanced approach." Board members replied that the advisory committee’s role is to set standards and that any proposed ballot measure would be subject to public election, where all registered voters of Hardin County would have a say.

Officials stressed the need to present clear facts at the hearings and to invite stakeholders, including EMS providers and elected officials, to explain current service gaps and options. Unidentified Speaker 3 said the advisory committee could pull best practices and lessons learned from other counties and that county staff will publish the notices in legal notices, the local paper, online and at the official posting location.

The board moved, seconded and approved resolution 2025-18 to publish the three hearing notices; the motion carried on a roll call with all present supervisors voting in the affirmative. The vote was procedural: it scheduled the hearings and did not adopt any funding level, millage, or service standard. Next steps include notice publication, outreach to townships and municipalities, and later advisory-committee work to frame proposed ballot language and service standards for public consideration.

Provenance: The board introduced and approved the motion to publish three hearings under resolution 2025-18 during the meeting’s EMS discussion and motion sequence (topic introduced at SEG 241; motion and vote concluded by SEG 992).