Thread by @MissoulaCounty

Missoula County Communications and Projects Director Anne Hughes welcomes the 40 Missoula Local Government Citizens Academy participants to the courthouse, where they’ll learn about the many facets of county government.

The session is taking place in historic Courtroom No. 3, which was restored over the past few years as part of the courthouse renovation project.

Tonight, academy participants, who have mostly learned the ins and outs of city government, will learn how county government is different and about the services our departments provide to residents.

So, how is county government different? Well, first of all, Missoula County is a general powers government. This means commissioners can only enact specific ordinances or laws when the state has explicitly granted them the power to do so.

This differs from a self-governing municipality like the City of Missoula, which can enact ordinances as long as doing so is not expressly prohibited by the Montana constitution or state law. Here's a more in-depth explanation of this 👇missoulacountyblog.com/2019/07/05/why…

Missoula Co. also has 11 independently elected officials: 3 commissioners, auditor, clerk and recorder/treasurer, clerk of district court, county attorney, 2 justices of the peace, sheriff, superintendent of schools

📷Commissioners Dave Strohmaier, Juanita Vero, Josh Slotnick

While commissioners approve their department budgets, they do not supervise other elected officials. All elected officials ultimately report to the voters of Missoula County. Departments led by elected officials, and the services they offer, include …

The Clerk and Recorder/Treasurer, which processes vehicle titling and registration, issues birth certificates, sends out tax bills and collects taxes for all jurisdictions in the county.

In FY19, the department’s Motor Vehicle Division processed 36,445 title transactions. At the beginning of this year, the division launched an online vehicle titling service, the first in the state. Access this service 👇
missoula.co/titlebyemail.

The MVD also processed 73,047 registration renewals in FY19. You can also renew your plates online at app.mt.gov/vrr/renewal/in….

If you do need to go to the courthouse instead of online, did you know you can get in line before you even leave your house? Just head to getintheline.us to sign up.

The Sheriff's Office provides law enforcement, protects public safety and operates the Missoula County Detention Facility. @MSLASheriff employs 56 sworn deputies, with 12 detectives, three assigned to Drug Task Force and one to FBI Violent Crimes.

In 2018, the department received 27,030 calls for service (up 15% from previous year) and traveled nearly 1 million miles.

The County Attorney’s Office prosecutes criminal and civil cases and provides legal guidance for county departments. In 2018, the department prosecuted 764 felonies, 1,334 misdemeanors and 86 juvenile cases.

The office has worked to update its meeting rooms to be accessible to victims, families. In this kid-friendly space, a glass wall between rooms lets parents see their children while keeping them out of earshot of difficult subject matter often discussed in interviews, meetings.

The County Attorney and Sheriff’s offices also participate in the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, a committee made up of key criminal justice stakeholders working to implement data-driven improvements to the local criminal justice system.

Funded by a $700k grant from the MacArthur Foundation, the CJCC is one component of the Jail Diversion Master Plan, adopted in 2016 to reduce jail overcrowding, decrease criminal recidivism, enhance public safety and more effectively use taxpayer money. missoula.co/jaildiversion

The Clerk of Court issues marriage licenses, maintains District Court records, manages jury duty. Staff files 5k new cases/year & retains adoption, civil, criminal, dependent neglect, domestic relations, guardianship, juvenile, paternity, probate, involuntary commitment records.

The department also issues 800+ new marriage licenses a year, and you can apply for those online at missoula.co/marriagelicense. Marriage licenses obtained in any Montana county are valid throughout the state for 180 days.

Justices of the Peace preside over initial appearances on felony charges, misdemeanor arraignments, and preliminary hearings and trials for misdemeanor and traffic cases, and small claims civil cases.

Let's say you get a speeding ticket. 🚗🚓🚨
If it's from a sheriff's deputy, you'll appear in Justice Court. If it's from a city police officer, you'll go to Municipal Court.

They also officiate several weddings each week.
♥🔔 👰🤵 👰👰 🤵🤵

The Auditor’s Office reviews all accounts payable claims, enforces procurement procedures, and designs internal controls to safeguard against waste, fraud and abuse in county government. In FY19, the office reviewed around 24,000 claims worth about $81.5 million.

The Superintendent of Schools directly supervises Class III schools, generally oversees public and home schools, and registers professional licenses, bus driver certificates and bus inspection certificates.🚍🏫🧑‍🎓

The Missoula County Superintendent of Schools is not be confused with Missoula County Public Schools!!! MCPS is a completely separate jurisdiction from Missoula County, with its own board of trustees, superintendent, etc. (We know. It’s confusing.😭)

Commissioners do directly oversee other departments led by directors, not elected officials. Missoula County has more than 800 employees across 30 departments. A few of the public-facing departments and a small sampling of the services they provide …

The City-County Health Department administers immunizations, provides animal control, performs restaurant inspections, investigates infections disease cases, protects water and air quality, provides family wellness visits (and a TON of other stuff!)

In FY19, @MslaHealthDept administered 7,904 immunizations, sheltered 1,322 animals 🐶🐱, investigated 2,200 infectious disease cases and provided 11,462 family home visits.

Partnership Health Center also provides critical health services to our communities. @PartnershipHC sees about 16,000 patients a year in Missoula and Mineral counties.

A Federally Qualified Health Center, PHC provides medical, dental, behavioral health and pharmacy services to all, regardless of ability to pay. partnershiphealthcenter.com

The Health Department also prevents and prepares for public health emergencies, including coronavirus. You can find accurate, updated information for Missoula County at missoula.co/cvirus. As of this tweet, no cases have been confirmed in Montana.

The Health Department coordinates with the Office of Emergency Management (and many other agencies) in the case of a health emergency. The agencies work together to put out timely information and alerts to keep the public safe.

.@MslaCountyOEM also manages the 9-1-1 Center (which received 139,925 calls last year), provides natural disaster preparedness and response, and issues emergency alerts. OEM urges all county residents to sign up for Smart911 at smart911.com or by downloading the app.

Public Works paves, plows and maintains roads, operates sewer and water districts, issues building permits and performs inspections, and maintains bridges.

.@MslaCoPubWorks maintains 474 miles of roads, with around 232 miles paved and 242 gravel. After a snowstorm, crews start plowing roads outside city limits between 5 and 6 a.m., with the goal of having school bus routes cleared first. View plow routes at missoula.co/roadsdivision.

Public Works is also one of three departments that issues development-related permits. When planning to build a house or start a home improvement project, county residents outside city limits should check out the handy guide to permits at missoulacounty.build.

The Elections Office conducts federal, state and local elections; manages voter registration and other voter services; and administers candidate filing. Missoula County has 83,358 registered voters. The voter registration application is online at sosmt.gov/elections/vote/.

The new @MissoulaVotes building at 140 N. Russell St. is spacious enough that staff can provide election services there year-round, instead of temporarily moving to the Fairgrounds for elections, like they did for the past decade.
missoulacountyblog.com/2019/11/20/new…

Relationship Violence Services advocates for crime victims and provides violence prevention services and education. In FY19, the department provided 34,649 services and 9,868 referrals. More details on the important work staff do is in their annual report: missoula.co/rvsreport19

Community and Planning Services enforces zoning, subdivision and floodplain regulations; plans for growth and development; manages parks, trails and open lands; applies for grant funding; and guides sustainability and climate action initiatives.

In FY19, planners issued 519 total permits and 37 subdivisions exemptions. CAPS is currently updating the zoning code for the Missoula urban area outside city limits: missoula.co/121119zoning. They’re also gearing up for the Mullan Area Master Plan: mullanareamasterplan.com

The county’s sustainability program is working toward the goals of 100% clean electricity by 2030 and carbon neutrality in county operations by 2035. Currently, about 63% of the county’s operations are powered by clean energy.
missoulacountyblog.com/2019/11/25/sol…

The CAPS Parks, Trails and Open Lands program manages 96 parks throughout the county. Find one near you using the county’s Park Finder: gis.missoulacounty.us/CAPS/ParksAndT…

And, thanks to a 2006 voter-approved bond, the program has also helped preserve 29,600 acres of open space across the county, including the Sheehy-Potomac open space project in the Potomac Valley, pictured here.

The county provides several other recreational and cultural amenities, including the Fairgrounds, Historical Museum at Fort Missoula and Missoula City-County Library.

Renovations at the Fairgrounds are ongoing, and you can check out plans at missoulafairgrounds.com. @MslaCoFair unveiled the remodeled Commercial Building last summer. There will be lots of updated features at 2020 Western Montana Fair, so mark your calendar for Aug. 5-9!

The Historical Museum highlights many aspects of western Montana history, including the Fort Missoula Alien Detention Center that interned 2,200 Japanese resident aliens and Italian nationals during World War II.

missoulacountyblog.com/2019/09/25/his…

In addition to telling the site’s internment story, @FortMissoula features fascinating permanent and rotating exhibits documenting the history of Missoula County. And, thanks to a 2002 mill levy, admission is free for all Missoula County residents!

We can also thank voters for the new Missoula Public Library, which is slated to open its new downtown building July 15. In addition to the main location, there are @missoulalibrary branches in Frenchtown, Lolo, Potomac, Seeley Lake, Condon and at Big Sky High School.

In addition to books, the library has lots of reference materials to check out, and even items like life jackets! The new building will expand on this with a Library of Things, where you can check out everything from telescopes and birding backpacks to cooking and baking supplies

Keep in mind that the departments and services detailed here represent just a small part of what Missoula County does. You can learn more about the county departments and services at missoulacounty.us and missoulacountyblog.com.

Also be sure to follow county agencies on social media: missoula.co/socialmediadir…

But wait! There’s more! Now it’s time for some ✨FUN! FACTS! ✨

✨Fun Fact ✨ No. 1: With an estimated 118,781 people, Missoula County is the second most populated county in Montana. At 2,618 square miles, Missoula County ranks 25th in terms of land area.

✨Fun Fact ✨ No. 2: Missoula is the only incorporated city or town in Missoula County, and the county is the sole provider of government services to all communities outside city limits. Missoula County is the only urban county in Montana with just one incorporated city or town.

(“Urban” by Montana standards, of course. 😉)

✨Fun Fact ✨ No. 3: In 1985, Missoula County became the first in the nation to have an all-female commission, when Barbara Evans, Ann Mary Dussault and Janet Stevens served on the board. 🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️💪

And that’s a wrap on Local Government Citizens Academy County Night! Thanks to all who joined us, and to the City of Missoula for putting on this program!