County board works on policy updates, courthouse planning progresses
Among the county’s ongoing capital improvement projects and other county-related initiatives, officials continue work on updating county policies, an effort identified as a priority in the county’s 2024 strategic plan.
At its June 23 meeting, the Cook County Board of Commissioners approved three policy updates addressing the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), workplace violence, and the use of personal appliances in county workplaces. The policies were presented by Human Resources Director Allison Plummer.
The board of commissioners also reviewed a proposal from Ehlers Public Finance Advisors, a firm the county regularly works with, to assist in reviewing, updating, and developing the county’s financial management policies.
The identified policies would include the county’s loan, debt, fund balance, credit card, travel, per diem, expense reimbursement, and non-mandated services policies, among others.
“Several of those have not been updated in quite some time, and so it’s best practice to continually be looking at how things change and statutes and regulations and making sure that we’re up to date,” County Administrator Kristen Trebil-Halbersma told WTIP. She said it has been a “high priority” on the list since stepping into the position.
During the meeting, Cook County Auditor/Treasurer Braidy Powers said that the county has had policies in place, but that “A lot of the policies don’t fully cover what can fully happen. We’ve gotten by, but I think it’s probably time to be more comprehensive.”
Commissioner Gary Gamble said during the meeting that before approving Ehler’s proposal, he would like a broader, more in-depth discussion of county policies and asked how Cook County’s policies compare with those of other counties across the state.
Updating county policies and procedures and establishing new ones where gaps exist was one of six goals outlined in the three-year strategic plan created in 2024. Since then, county staff and officials have brought several policy updates to the board as part of a broader effort to modernize county policies, address gaps, and ensure compliance with current laws and best practices.
Commissioner Dave Mills questioned Gamble about what additional information or broader discussion would be needed before approving Ehler’s proposal to update the financial management policies.
Ultimately, the board decided not to vote on Ehler’s proposal and table the discussion until the commissioners can have a broader discussion about the strategy around policy updates at the next Committee of the Whole meeting in July.
In other ongoing county projects, county officials have recently begun working with architectural firm BKV to hold workshops with department heads to assess space needs, which will then be compiled into an updated capital improvement feasibility study for the courthouse.
Over the past year, the county has been working to address space and security needs in county buildings and deferred maintenance at the courthouse. Over the remainder of the summer, architects with BKV will host workshops with department heads and conduct a full 3D scan of the courthouse. The feasibility study will be presented to the commissioners at the end of the space-planning phase, and before costs are compiled.
WTIP’s Kalli Hawkins spoke with County Administrator Kristen Trebil-Halbersma about the county’s process to update policies, the ongoing courthouse capital improvement project, Sawtooth Bluffs, and the Grand Marais Transfer Station, among several other items from the June 23 meeting. The audio from the interview is below.
Kalli Hawkins June 25, 2026
