By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
A little history was made at Tuesday's Barton County Commission meeting. Governing bodies pass multiple resolutions each year, but only seven charter resolutions have ever been passed in Barton County, exempting the county from a state statute. County Counselor Patrick Hoffman said the eighth charter resolution, passed during Tuesday's meeting, pertains to sanitary inspections of schools.
"There has been a statute for decades that requires the county health officer to inspect schools before they are opened every year and approve them," Hoffman said. "This last year, the legislature made a change to the law to allow counties to exempt themselves from that."
Because Tuesday's action involved a charter resolution, two-thirds of the five commissioners needed to vote in favor of the resolution. That matter will now go through a publication process. The resolution will take effect in 60 days if a petition with a required number of signatures is not filed.
"By adopting this charter resolution, it will just clarify that, in Barton County, the school districts are in control of their buildings," Hoffman said. "They are more than welcome, at any time, to reach out to county health and ask for opinions or information or help, but when it comes down to who approves a school, it's going to be up to the school board."
Hoffman said the current statute can cause conflicts of interest between county health officers and school districts, and is also redundant because school officials already monitor their own buildings.