The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) boards for Guthrie and Crescent will need to be re-appointed after it was found that the boards have been out of compliance for multiple decades.
The responsibility of an EMS board is to provide ambulance services to portions of the county with a provider and overlook funding for their district.
One of the mistakes found was term limits. For some time now, EMS board members have been appointed to three-year terms instead of five-year terms.
“At some point, it appears in the ’90s, somehow got shifted to three-year terms,” County Clerk Troy Cole said in a special Board of County Commissioners meeting held Monday. “Not sure how. It’s just what I find in the (old) minutes.”
The third EMS board in the county, North & East Logan County Emergency Medical Services (NELCEMS) was formed in 2019 and is in compliance.
Cole added, “At this point, it is impossible to tie back who (board member) is on what schedule. So going back and trying to track, connect all these dots it’s just impossible.”
With the opinion of the County’s attorney, Lowell Barto, the county will now “draw a line and start over.”
“Due to these errors, out of our (current elected officials) control, this is the best course to right the ship,” Cole told the commissioners.
Commissioners Monty Piearcy and Marven both agreed with the Clerk. Commissioner Kody Ellis was not present for the meeting.
Each EMS board is to consist of at least five members. Currently, Guthrie EMS has six board members, and Crescent with five members.
Each board member, and any other county citizen living in the Guthrie or Crescent school district boundaries, will now apply to fill the positions. The Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) will appoint each EMS board member.
The BOCC does not overlook the EMS board meetings or decisions.
Current board appointments will remain in place until the EMS board members can be appointed, which could happen as early as Oct. 14.
Each year moving forward, one EMS board member’s term will expire and must be reappointed by the BOCC.
The NELCEMS board continues to search for members to fill open positions. To apply for that board, residents must reside in one of the following school districts: Covington-Douglas, Mulhall-Orlando, Coyle, Perkins-Tryon, Luther or Wellston school districts.
Applications may be picked up at the Courthouse Annex 312 E Harrison Suite 101 in Guthrie, found at https://logancountyok.com/235/Board-Appointments.
Applications will be accepted from September 12 through October 13, 2022.
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