Supervisors, county department heads discuss security access

     One of the county projects that was made possible due to the use of ARPA funds was the installation and implementation of proxy card access throughout the Jones County Courthouse.

   Now that the installation is complete, Sheriff Greg Graver and Auditor Whitney Hein met with the Jones County Supervisors during their May 16 board meeting to discuss which county employees need access and authorization to certain areas of the courthouse. The board was also asked to approve the Security Policy.

   “The policy was tweaked a bit, but no huge changes,” Hein noted. “We changed some descriptions of employee classification and general access.”

   In addition, she said forms were added to the policy that county employees would fill out and use to request access via their proxy card.

   “That will help for documentation purposes when people are accessing a different office, they’ll fill out a form,” she explained. “It’s a good idea to have it documented so we know it (access) was authorized by the appropriate party.”

   New county employees would also have to fill out the forms to be issued a proxy card.

   With the proxy cards in place, Hein said physical keys to various areas of the courthouse will no longer need to be issued and distributed. Beginning June 1, all keys will be collected from county employees. Hein said it’ll be cleaner, too, when employees leave their job or change jobs within the courthouse, their card access can just be modified as well.

   “What if the (card readers) go down?” asked Supervisor Ned Rohwedder.

   “That’s very unlikely,” Hein said, “because we have the generator as a backup.”

   IT Coordinator Lisa Mootz said the card readers are not connected to the internet.

   If physical keys are needed in an emergency, Hein said those could be distributed fairly quickly.

   “There will be only a select few with key access,” Graver said. “The point is to keep it very narrow so there are no keys floating around as employees go and we can quickly stop their access. We don’t need piles of keys.”

   County Treasurer Amy Picray asked if department heads could retain copies of physical keys. She further felt that all county department heads should have been involved in the discussion of access.

   “We weren’t told of the changes ahead of time,” she said.

   Supervisor Jeff Swisher said the board discussed the policy at their previous meeting and had Hein put it on the agenda for action.

   “Everyone got a copy of the policy when they got their badge,” Mootz said.

   “We’re just making a few changes,” Hein noted.

   Graver said the policy was put together by using other counties’ policies and duplicating it with a few changes that pertain specifically to Jones County.

   “Every department will have different access,” Hein said. “Specific access can be added for a certain period of time.”

   Graver said with his department, for instance, with multiple employees working as deputies, in the Civil Department, and in the jail, everyone will have different access.

   “This is all about security,” he said. “Our culture is changing. We can adjust or customize access.”

   Noting that more discussion needs to happen amongst county departments concerning the policy, the board tabled any action.

   The supervisors also discussed continued ARPA funding.

   Hein shared the four major projects the ARPA Committee came up with early on, as well as potential additional projects the board has talked about.

   Supervisor Joe Oswald felt the digitization of county records in the Auditor and Recorder’s offices was also a good use of ARPA funds.

   Hein said she will have the board approve the contract during their next meeting.

   Swisher also asked about getting quotes for ADA-compliant restrooms on the main floor of the courthouse.

   The board asked if the Broadway Place Annex should also be fitted with card readers versus the use of keys.

   “At the very least, we should do the outside doors so we know who’s going in, for security purposes,” suggested Oswald.

   “That’s a start,” agreed Supervisor Jon Zirkelbach, noting that there are so many interiors doors inside the facility.