(A) Special emergency powers and duties of principal executive officer; declaration of local disaster emergency.
(1) In the event of actual or threatened disaster from any natural or human-made cause affecting the county, the Board of County Commissioners as the principal executive officer of the county may declare a local disaster emergency pursuant to I.C. 10-14-3-29. The declaration shall be in writing, indicate the nature of the disaster, indicate the area or areas to which the state of emergency applies (which may include the entire county or only designated parts thereof), shall be given prompt and general publicity and shall be filed in the office of the County Auditor.
(2) A declaration of disaster emergency may not be continued or renewed for more than seven days except with the consent of the Board of County Commissioners.
(3) A declaration of a disaster emergency activates the response and recovery aspects of all local disaster plans and authorizes the furnishing of aid and assistance under the plans.
(4) A declaration of a local disaster shall not be necessary if the governor, pursuant to I.C. 10-14-3-12, has already proclaimed a statement or area-wide state of emergency including the county.
(B) Special emergency powers and duties of principal executive officer; special meeting procedures.
(1) After a disaster emergency affecting the county has been declared either by the Governor or by the County Commissioners, any meeting of the County Commissioners shall be deemed an emergency meeting, may be held in any convenient and available place and may be recessed for reasonable periods of time as necessary and permitted by the circumstances.
(2) In the event that a quorum of the Board of Commissioners cannot be assembled in person, the Board may convene a meeting by telephone.
(3) In the event that a quorum of the Board of Commissioners cannot be assembled in person or by electronic means, the President of the Board shall be entitled to act as the executive officer of the county. If the President is unavailable or incapacitated, the remaining Commissioners shall designate one of themselves to act as President of the Board of Commissioners.
(C) Special emergency powers of the Board of Commissioners. Following the declaration of a disaster emergency, the Board of Commissioners may exercise any of the following special powers:
(1) To the extent permitted by I.C. 10-14-3-31, request or commandeer services or property in order to respond to the disaster emergency;
(2) Order the evacuation of persons from areas affected by a declared disaster and may prescribe evacuation routes;
(3) Waive procedures and formalities otherwise required by law pertaining to:
(a) The performance of public work;
(b) The entering into of contracts;
(c) The incurring of obligations;
(d) The employment of permanent and temporary workers;
(e) The use of volunteer workers;
(f) The rental of equipment;
(g) The purchase and distribution of supplies; materials and facilities; and
(h) The appropriation and expenditure of public funds.
(4) Make available for duty the employees, property or equipment of the county relating to firefighting, engineering, rescue, health services, police, transportation, construction and similar services for emergency management and disaster purposes within or outside the limits of the county;
(5) Assign any special emergency duties and functions to county employees, departments and agencies; and
(6) Promulgate such emergency regulations as are necessary to carry out the provisions of a disaster response plan, and those regulations shall be effective when put into writing and filed in the office of the County Auditor or, if filing is not possible, posted in three public locations within the county.
(D) Application of provisions of section. This section shall apply whenever:
(1) A state of emergency affecting all or part of the county has been declared by the Governor pursuant to I.C. 10-14-3-12; or
(2) A state of emergency affecting all or part of the county has been declared by the County Commissioners pursuant to I.C. 10-14-3-29 and division (B) above.
(Ord. 2011-8, passed 12-5-2011)