Pierce County POLICY: Authority of the Director
The job of the Department of Human Services board is generally confined to establishing policies, leaving implementation of policies to the Director.The Director is authorized by statute to implement necessary agency operations, make all decisions, take all actions and develop all activities which are true to the policies of both the Human Services Board and the County Board of Supervisors. The Board will respect the Director’s decisions and actions so long as they are true to the Board’s policies. This does not prevent the Board from obtaining information about activities in the delegated areas.No individual board member or officer has any authority over the Director. Information may be requested by such parties, but if such request, in the Director’s judgment, requires a material amount of staff time, it may be refused.Acting within his or her authority, the Director may not perform, allow or cause to be performed any act which is unlawful, insufficient to meet commonly accepted business and professional ethics for the "prudent person" test, in violation of funding source requirements or regulatory bodies, or contrary to explicit board constraints on executive authority.
Should a situation arise wherein the Director deems it unwise to comply with a board policy, he or she will inform the Board. Informing the Board assures that no violation is intentionally kept from the Board; it is not for receiving approval. Board response at that time does not exempt the Director from subsequent board judgment of his or her actions.
REFERENCE
Wisconsin Statutes 46.23