Commission approves personnel changes; commissioners seek clarity on emergency on-call pay
June 04, 2026 | Codington County, South Dakota
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The Codington County Commission approved a batch of personnel actions, including pay changes and two new hires, after brief discussion and clarification from county staff.
Staff presented an on-call pay increase for Jamie Torson, described in the meeting as an on-call emergency-management position effective June 1, 2026. The pay for on-call hours was presented as increasing from $20 an hour to $30 an hour when Torson is activated. Commissioners asked how frequently the on-call pay is used and whether the increase was budgeted; one commissioner also asked whether Mr. Torson’s military obligations could affect the arrangement. Natalie, a county staff member who spoke to the item, described the on-call arrangement as "kind of like a contract basically" and said the position is not on the standard wage scale, which limited her ability to provide a full pay-step explanation during the meeting.
The personnel slate also included two park-custodian hires: Maxwell Lee Curtenbach and Keegan Mix, with effective dates and hourly steps noted in the personnel packet. A motion to approve the personnel changes was moved (by Maney) and seconded (by Schwar), and the commission voted to approve the package.
Record note: the transcript contains several variant spellings of some commissioners’ names across segments; the article uses the spellings as spoken when those names were first announced during motions. The commission did not amend the personnel items and moved them forward for processing.
Next steps: payroll and human-resources staff will process the approved hires and on-call pay changes.
Staff presented an on-call pay increase for Jamie Torson, described in the meeting as an on-call emergency-management position effective June 1, 2026. The pay for on-call hours was presented as increasing from $20 an hour to $30 an hour when Torson is activated. Commissioners asked how frequently the on-call pay is used and whether the increase was budgeted; one commissioner also asked whether Mr. Torson’s military obligations could affect the arrangement. Natalie, a county staff member who spoke to the item, described the on-call arrangement as "kind of like a contract basically" and said the position is not on the standard wage scale, which limited her ability to provide a full pay-step explanation during the meeting.
The personnel slate also included two park-custodian hires: Maxwell Lee Curtenbach and Keegan Mix, with effective dates and hourly steps noted in the personnel packet. A motion to approve the personnel changes was moved (by Maney) and seconded (by Schwar), and the commission voted to approve the package.
Record note: the transcript contains several variant spellings of some commissioners’ names across segments; the article uses the spellings as spoken when those names were first announced during motions. The commission did not amend the personnel items and moved them forward for processing.
Next steps: payroll and human-resources staff will process the approved hires and on-call pay changes.
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