Continuous Improvement
At Johnson County Government, one of our values is Continuous Improvement. Our team is highly encouraged to always look for ways to better serve our public, more efficiently do our work and become even stronger stewards of taxpayer dollars. This work happens every day, and you can find the outcomes of this value throughout the annual report. While it is impossible to include every example from 2023, we wanted to highlight ways the community benefited from our quest for continuous improvement.
Lighting the Way by…
…creating new ways to navigate the criminal justice system
Following the success of the Veterans Treatment Court, which launched in 2016, in 2023 several county departments, agencies and offices came together to launch two new treatment courts.
- The behavioral health court serves individuals in the criminal justice system diagnosed with a mental health disorder and/or co-occurring substance use disorder. It’s the result of efforts by Judge Robert Wonnell and Johnson County Mental Health Center, which is administering a three-year start-up grant. Community Corrections, the District Attorney’s Office, and private defense counsel were also integral in the creation of the court.
- The adult drug court provides supervision, evaluation and treatment to individuals in the criminal justice system who are at high risk to reoffend and need sustained long-term substance abuse treatment. This court is the result of a partnership between District Court, Community Corrections, the District Attorney’s Office, Johnson County Mental Health Center, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, the Public Defender’s Office, and private defense counsel.
…improving processes and procedures with the goal of increased efficiency and performance
Following a comprehensive review by a BOCC sub-committee and staff, during the first quarter of 2023, the BOCC adopted an update to its Rules of Order and its Codes of Conduct to ensure the Board was operating as efficiently and fairly as possible.
Also in 2023, some updates and enhancements were made to the BOCC-appointed planning commission and zoning boards. Three zoning boards were consolidated into two and renamed the West Consolidated Zoning Board and the East Consolidated Zoning Board. At the same time, updates were made to the appointment processes and bylaws for the zoning boards and Planning Commission.
At the end of 2023, the BOCC updated its procurement thresholds for the first time since 2004. Since that time, the cost of doing business had increased and the previous procurement threshold limits had fallen behind. Staff estimated that by increasing the Board’s threshold by $50,000, it could reduce the number of items coming before the Board for approval by approximately 30%, while commissioners would still vote on 96% of the total dollars. The hopes of the new thresholds are to increase the efficiency of the business conducted by the BOCC while retaining its decision making authority on most large purchases.
…updating our planning and zoning regulations to ensure they align with current needs
Much work was done in 2023 on needed updates to the regulations Johnson County Government uses to make planning and zoning decisions for property in the unincorporated parts of the county.
One update to Johnson County’s Zoning and Subdivision requirements had to do with the regulation of Accessory Buildings in the unincorporated part of the county. Trends were showing an increase of land owners requesting Conditional Use Permits because they wanted to build something beyond the previous standards. After detailed review, the BOCC approved the staff and the Planning Commission’s recommended regulation changes to increase the allowed size of accessory buildings. This approach will reduce the number of CUP applications, making the process more efficient.
Another update was made to Johnson County’s Rural Comprehensive Plan, which helps ensure future land development in the unincorporated algins with the goals of the community. Changes were needed after the city of De Soto’s annexation of just over one third of the land from the Sunflower Area Plan, which encompassed 44 square miles in Northwest Johnson County. The county’s Comprehensive Plan involving this area needed to be updated so the Sunflower Area Plan could be dissolved and the remaining, unannexed areas be incorporated into a land use category with very low-density residential and agricultural uses. Learn more about the process.
…introducing new technology to solve problems and increase transparency
In late 2023, the county launched a new applicant tracking system. The project was a culmination of more than a year of collaborative work between Human Resources, Johnson County Park and Recreation District and seven other departments. The new system dramatically decreased the time it takes to apply for a job from 35 minutes to three minutes. The new portal provides applicants with system prompts to encourage them to fully complete the application process, including text messaging capabilities with potential applicants.
In May 2023 Johnson County MED-ACT launched a new dashboard on its public website that provides a detailed view into their day-to day activity, including call activity by the hour, patient age groups, the types of medical and/or trauma emergencies the service is responding to, the hospitals who are receiving MED-ACT patients. The EMS Activity Report is updated three times per day and allows users to filter data to view information by city or a specific date range.