Washington County is moving toward having a full time Emergency Management Coordinator, currently the position is split with Keokuk County. Current Washington and Keokuk County Emergency Coordinator Larry Smith explained at Friday’s Washington County Preparedness Consortium meeting it will take effect July 1st, 2017. At this time, Smith is an employee of Keokuk County who is shared with Washington County half of his time – or 20 hours each week.

Washington County Supervisor and ambulance director Richard Young said the job takes more than 20 hours to do effectively and Washington County needs a full time person for the role. By the 28E agreement, Washington County had to notify Keokuk County in December of the change.

Smith is currently one of three emergency management coordinators in the entire state that oversees more than one county. The board of supervisors will discuss the issue at their meeting Tuesday.