Earlier this month, the Guthrie County Board of Supervisors approved a county-wide personnel policy. This policy is meant to affect work-related procedures encompassing all county departments. The policy took months to form and was the subject of many heated discussions.

County Engineer Josh Sebern, who took the lead on organizing the formation of this policy, describes the origin for its creation. “What started it all was the major changes to collective bargaining for the secondary road union. The state legislature passed sweeping changes to collective bargaining and it brought a glaring need for an updated personnel policy. I approached the supervisors for a need for this and they wanted to update the policy for the whole county.”

Sebern also noted the teamwork needed to complete the policy. “It was a very collaborative effort amongst all departments and elected officials. All departments evaluated each other’s policies. We put it all on the table and developed one policy. Previous to that there were several policies. It was difficult to administer, difficult to manage, and from the perspective of the employees could be seen as unfair. It was a very good process.”

Sebern also mentioned that collaborative meetings and conferences like this will continue in the future. The policy currently effects departments overseen by the Board of Supervisors and is subject to approval by boards governing the other departments. The policy will go into effect next year.