The Boone County Health Department ratcheted up a legal tussle with the Boone County Commissioners this month after commissioners grabbed control of decisions the health board holds sacred.
Commissioners Scott Pell and Tim Beyer have said the commissioners have final authority over health department contracts.
County attorney Beth Copeland backs them on that claim, while health department board member and retired attorney John Casey disagrees. Both attorneys are experienced in municipal law.
Pell and Beyer hired Copeland as a full-time employee this year and expect her to serve all of the county’s elected officials, offices, and boards of directors to save money on legal services.
The health department opted instead to enter a contract with Bob Clutter, who served it for many years and is familiar with the health department’s needs. Clutter had previously served commissioners on a contractual basis and rolled most of the cost of serving the health department into his monthly fee to the county.
Without a countywide contract, Clutter and the health department entered a new one this spring. Clutter’s services cost the department more in the new contract, since there was no longer a county contract to absorb overruns.
Beyer and Pell in June objected to the cost and claimed the health department must receive commissioners’ approval before entering contracts, which was not previously the procedure, Boone County Health Officer Dr. Herschell Servies said.
They stalled Clutter’s bill for May and demanded that the health department return with Clutter’s contract for them to consider. Pell and Beyer later paid the May bill but rejected the contract. Commissioner Don Lawson voted against ending the contract, saying commissioners should not override the will and authority of the health board.
Pell and Beyer want Copeland to serve the health board as part of her employment to save taxpayer money. The money earmarked for Clutter’s pay, however, was state money given to the health board specifically for legal counsel, and it did not pass through county coffers, nor Boone County Council approval, Casey said. The council is the county’s fiscal arm.
In response, the health board met this month and unanimously voted to seek legal opinions on: whether commissioners have final authority on health department contracts; whether commissioners or the council determine the health department budget and expenditures; whether commissioners overstepped in replacing the health department’s attorney; and if the health department has legal grounds to sue commissioners if a resolution is not reached.
Beyer spoke during the health department’s July meeting and said he sees it differently than Casey described it to the health department board. “I urge you to watch the video of the commissioner’s June 16 meeting,” he said.
Pell declined an interview for this story.
The commissioners’ and health board’s special meeting will be open to the public at 6 p.m. Monday in the Connie Lamar meeting room of the Boone County Annex, 116 W. Washington St., Lebanon.