Bartholomew County government buildings are going to start closing an hour earlier after a change made by the county commissioners.
The Bartholomew County Commissioners on Monday passed the second 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. The new hours will be effective starting on Oct. 1.
The ordinance was finalized by a 2-0 vote. Commissioner Tony London, R-District 3, was absent Monday.
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.
Commissioner Carl Lienhoop, R-District 2, said the hours adjustment is something the commissioners have been considering for 10-plus years.
“What probably pushed us over the edge was that the employees of the courts in the courthouse were essentially told that their day would change from eight to four as of about March of this past year,” Lienhoop said. “It’s pretty hard when you got employees in the same building and some of them are leaving at four, some are leaving at five. Kind of hard to keep the peace.”
Another underlying motivation for the change is that while court staff are paid by the county, they are technically considered state employees and have a different personnel handbook. Court reporters operate under the rules and guidance of each judge, rather than county government’s personnel policies, according to attorney Jim Shoaf.
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.
The commissioners took a look at the amount of business being done between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. and found it was very little. In conversation with other country governments with shortened office hours the commissioners said they believe the same amount of work can be done without the additional hour.
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.
