Woodbury County to close Dec. 26; employees who must work to receive one personal day

The Woodbury County Board of Supervisors voted to close county government on Friday, Dec. 26, and to credit employees who must work that day with one personal day to be used by June 30, 2026.

Board members said the intent was to give staff a short holiday between Christmas and the weekend. "I think that this would be an incredible benefit to all of our employees if we gave them that day to spend more time with their family and friends," said a member of the board during discussion.

Payroll and HR staff outlined implementation logistics, requesting a list of eligible employees and the number of hours to be credited for each shift. Payroll staff said creating a separate personal-time code would make reporting clear and avoid mixing the allowance with comp-time or overtime accounting. "If we create a code with the number of units they're authorized to receive off, they'll just have a block of time and then in the future individuals can ask for that time off," a payroll representative said.

Supervisors asked department heads to work with HR to identify who worked or was scheduled to work that day so eligible employees can coordinate with supervisors on when to use the time. The board recorded the motion to approve the closure and credit as passing unanimously (recorded as 5–0).