Yavapai County study session directs staff to draft internship policy, flags partisan-use concerns

Chair Mallory called a study session on Aug. 11 to discuss internships at Yavapai County and to give staff direction on how to handle a currently proposed student placement.

County Manager Maury Thompson told the board the county has "no policy on internships" and that, to date, the county has been treating many interns under its existing volunteer policy. Thompson said the volunteer policy covers security checks and use of county assets but does not clearly define internships, and he recommended staff draft a uniform internship policy for departments and a specific section for elected officials.

Wendy Ross, who carried out an inventory of current internship arrangements, told the board that some interns were hired as temporary paid employees while others worked unpaid, and that formal internship agreements with schools (for example, Yavapai College) would require a signed agreement between the school and the county. Ross said classes at Yavapai College begin…