County board approves emergency management move to sheriff’s office

By Brandi Makuski

Emergency management and emergency medical services will now be overseen by the county’s top law enforcement department.

The Portage Co. Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a proposal to move the county’s emergency management department under the wing of the sheriff’s office. Prior to the March 20 meeting, the county’s emergency management and EMS functions operated together but in a separate department—one overseen by five directors in the past five years.

Now, the department will be split into two divisions within the sheriff’s office, independent of each other but linked together at the management level, answering directly to Chief Deputy Dan Kontos, and ultimately, Sheriff Mike Lukas.

County Executive Patty Dreier made the proposal at the Jan. 18 EMS Oversight Committee. The change, she said, makes sense given the nature of modern emergencies.

“The nature of emergency management is changing; we’re no longer dealing with primarily storms,” Dreier said. “We’re dealing with active shooters, bombs, that require a greater interconnectedness with law enforcement.”

Lukas said the change can only be a benefit to emergency responses, because emergency mobilization is regular part of law enforcement training.

“This is a great opportunity to blend the expertise and assets of the county’s largest emergency response organization with the other county level emergency-oriented functions,” Lukas said. “It leverages our ability to better plan, respond, mitigate, and recover from disasters, and allows us to better coordinate and administer programs and contracts.”

Along with overseeing countywide law enforcement, the sheriff’s office also operates the jail and juvenile detention facility, the countywide 911 system and dispatching functions. Adding emergency management into the mix, Lukas said, only makes sense.

“It will give the office the capability to coordinate disaster responses, better plan for and recover from natural and man-made emergencies, and support municipalities in Portage County with their needs in times of crisis or tragedy,” he added.

The EMS Division will administer the county’s multiple ambulance provider contracts, manage the emergency medical responder network, provide EMS-related training, and operate the county’s Special Events Unit.

“The transition will be seamless, and operate all in the background,” Lukas said. “I anticipate that we will see system improvements and benefits fairly quickly once we finalize our move.”