Mike Wolanin | The Republic The exterior of Bartholomew County Courthouse in Columbus, Ind., pictured, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016.
Bartholomew County government buildings will start closing an hour earlier if a change being considered by the county commissioners is finalized.
The Bartholomew County Commissioners on Monday passed the first reading of an ordinance to change the office hours of non-24/7 county buildings from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Ordinances must be approved twice to be final. If approved on second reading, the new hours would be effective starting on Oct. 1.
Bartholomew County’s three main courts made the same change effective for March 1 of this year, which was done in part because of a recommendation from the General Counsel to the Indiana Supreme Court.
The commissioners said they planned to make the change for all county buildings at the same time, but waited until budget time at the request of county council.
“The courts are the ones that sort of drove this, and we looked at doing it across the board,” said Commissioner Tony London, R-District 3.
Of Indiana’s 92 counties, Bartholomew and Carroll counties are the only two that still have office hours in county buildings from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m, the commissioners pointed out.
Aside from the office hour changes, county employees would now receive a 20-minute, paid meal break. County employees currently receive an unpaid, hour-long lunch break.
“I think one of the biggest drivers was when essentially the state directed the courts at the courthouse to go to an 8 to 4 workday,” said Commissioner Carl Lienhoop, R-District 2. “And I’m just going to be frank and honest: when you got part of your building that’s going home at 4 o’clock and you got part of your building having to stay ‘til 5, it doesn’t induce good harmony.”
In conversation with other county governments that have shortened their office hours, London said “they felt like they can still get the same amount of work done without that additional hour.”
London went on to describe how they took a look at the amount of business being done between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. and found that “it’s very minimal.”
County employees were polled regarding the change and reacted positively at the prospect, according to county officials.
Employees will still need to work 40-hours each week, but the manner in which they go about that is up to each department head, according to the commissioners.
