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Ohio County discusses proposed public-health ordinance, enforcement counsel and fee schedule
Summary
County staff and officials reviewed a proposed health ordinance that would adopt a state fee schedule and outline enforcement procedures; staff recommended budgeting for outside counsel (suggested minimum $5,000) because enforcement may require court actions.
County officials discussed a proposed public-health ordinance that would adopt the state’s schedule of fees and clarify who would handle enforcement actions.
The discussion centered on whether the county attorney should be designated to pursue enforcement and whether the county needs separate funding to retain outside counsel if cases must go to court. One participant recommended setting aside at least $5,000 for retention of outside counsel to support enforcement actions. Staff also noted the ordinance must be published twice and would take effect after the final publication.
Why it matters: officials said many local enforcement situations can lead to court work, and small towns often lack the in-house legal bandwidth to pursue extended enforcement. Speakers described difficulties getting repeat violators to comply and noted that enforcement tools are limited without a clear fee schedule and enforced penalties.
Details from the meeting: - Staff described the proposed ordinance as referring to the state schedule of fees; participants noted that the state code citations in paperwork varied across forms (discussion referenced items labeled 7-24 and 7-26 and that some counties had moved to updated forms). County staff said they would review the papers to ensure the correct code citations before publication. - A participant said that fee ranges vary widely across jurisdictions and that some fines can be substantial depending on the violation; the group discussed the need to pick a practical fee range and to state the fees when authorizing enforcement actions. - A former inspector was cited anecdotally as saying enforcement in other counties often relied on the threat of closure rather than issuing fines, underscoring the county’s limited leverage without defined procedures. - Staff flagged the budget implication and suggested adding funding to next year’s budget for enforcement-related legal work, recommending a minimum retention figure of about $5,000 to start.
Next steps: Staff said they will finalize ordinance language, confirm the correct state code references and forms, and proceed with the required two publications before returning the item for a possible vote.
