Mills County board approves first reading of ordinance on adult dependent facilities

The Mills County Board of Supervisors opened a public hearing and approved the first reading of Ordinance 26-01, establishing a new Chapter 20 of the county code governing adult dependent facilities.

The presenter explained that the ordinance defines which residential care facilities are covered, sets a definition for an "elopement" and for "preventable operational deficiencies," and allows civil penalties when a facility experiences three or more qualifying events in a 12-month period. "What the ordinance does is it lays out the definitions of what facilities apply to, what defines an elopement event, what defines a preventable operational deficiency," the presenter said during the hearing.

Board members said the measure responds to repeated incidents where facilities lacked adequate staffing and required repeated sheriff's department responses. The presenter described examples in which residents wandered from facilities and the sheriff's office had to retrieve them, sometimes incurring equipment or response costs that the ordinance would let the county recover through penalties.

Supervisor (speaker 2) moved to approve the first reading; a board member seconded and the motion passed by voice vote. The board discussed scheduling the second reading at the next meeting with an option to waive the third reading if members choose. No written or oral public comments were recorded prior to the meeting.

The ordinance remains at an early procedural stage: the board adopted only the first reading and did not adopt final ordinance language or penalties on an effective date. The next procedural step is placement of a second reading on a future agenda, at which time supervisors may adopt, amend or delay the ordinance.