The Guthrie County Supervisors approved extending the Families First Coronavirus Response Act paid leave to March 31st as part of its regular meeting Tuesday.

The FFCRA provided 80 hours of paid sick and family leave for employees who were quarantined or being tested for COVID-19. The United States Congress extended the employer’s tax credits from the act into 2021, but did not extend the mandatory requirement for employers that provides paid leave. 

Supervisor Chair Mike Dickson said it seemed right to extend the provisions for those employees who hadn’t used their leave yet. Employees who have used the 80 hours would need to use other types of leave if they should be quarantined again.

In other business, the Supervisors received a report from County Attorney Brenna Bird on the Attorney’s Office. She said December was busy with drunk and drugged driving cases, as well as the county meeting its threshold for collections 7 weeks ahead of schedule.

County Information Technology Administrator Brian Hoffman discussed the county’s e-mail system and partnership with Panora Telco for additional tech support hours. Hoffman hopes to begin work on an update to the computer systems to eliminate an outdated group policy that’s causing synchronization errors.

The Supervisors then approved prevention funding for New Opportunities for the 2021 fiscal year budget for $13,672.08.

The Board discussed amendments to the job description and duties for the new Human Resources Director. Finally, Sheriff Marty Arganbright gave a brief update on the new county jail construction project.