(A) Generally. All county employees will be tested for alcohol and drug abuse in accordance with the approved procedures when directed by the County Board of Commissioners or its designee. The county will specify the testing site and provide the tests and test interpretations at no cost to employees.
(B) Pre-employment. Under no circumstances will an individual be placed in a county position without proof of a successful completion of alcohol and drug testing. Any individual who refuses to submit to such tests, has a detectable amount of alcohol in his or her system or has a positive controlled substance test result will not be considered for employment with the county.
(C) Random testing. County employees shall be tested annually for drugs and alcohol at a random annual rate, to be determined by the County Board of Commissioners, or its designee. In no year shall the maximum rate of employees tested for drugs surpass 50%, or shall the maximum rate of employees tested for alcohol exceed 25%.
(D) Testing pool. All county employees’ names will be placed in a testing pool for the purpose of ensuring a random selection process. If an employee’s name is selected from the pool, the employee’s name remains in the pool, even after testing. The dates for testing will, under no circumstances, be announced.
(E) Reasonable suspicion.
(1) The county is required to test for the use of alcohol and controlled substances upon reasonable suspicion. REASONABLE SUSPICION is defined to mean that the county believes the behavior, speech, body odor or appearance of an employee while on duty are indicative of the use of alcohol and/or controlled substances. The conduct must be witnessed by a supervisor, if so trained. Supervisors will receive at least one hour of training to further their knowledge of possible signs of alcohol and/or drug abuse that influences an employee’s fitness for duty.
(2) A SUPERVISOR, as used in this section, is defined as, but not limited to the following list of individuals: County Auditor; County Assessor; County Clerk; County Recorder; County Treasurer; Judge of the county circuit court; County Sheriff; Supervisor of County Community Corrections; Supervisor of the County Cooperative Extension Service; Supervisor of the County Home; Supervisor of the County Emergency Medical Service; Supervisor of the County Health Department; Supervisor of the County Highway Garage; Supervisor of the County [illegible word]; and the County Prosecutor.
(3) The mere possession of alcohol does not constitute a need for an alcohol test. The witness must have received training in the detection of probable alcohol and drug use by observing a person’s behavior.
(4) A written record shall be made of the observations leading to a reasonable suspicion alcohol and/or controlled substance test. This record is to be signed by the supervisor who requires a reasonable suspicion test and shall include the observations that culminated in the test(s) being administered.
(a) If a reasonable suspicion alcohol test is not administered within two hours following the observations, the witness shall prepare and maintain on file a record stating the reasons the alcohol test was not administered promptly. In addition, if not administered within eight hours, all attempts to administer the test shall cease. A record shall be prepared and maintained stating why the alcohol test was not administered.
(b) Prior to the start of work, a county employee must report to his or her immediate supervisor use of any prescription and/or over the counter drugs which may affect the outcome of a substance abuse test.
(c) 1. All information obtained in the course of testing of county employees shall be protected as confidential medical information.
2. No date concerning this information will be made a part of the employee’s personnel file nor will it be provided to any other party without the direct written consent of the county employee, unless the results are grounds for discipline and/or the grievance procedure is requested by the employee.
(d) Failure to sign a release for alcohol and drug testing will be classified as refusal to carry out an order of a supervisor and the employee will be subject to discipline, up to and including termination.
(e) Refusal to submit to alcohol and/or controlled substance testing as required by this subchapter will be recorded as a positive test. REFUSAL TO SUBMIT TO AN ALCOHOL OR CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE TEST means that a county employee:
1. Fails to provide adequate breath for testing without valid medical explanation after he or she received notice of the requirement for breath testing in accordance with this policy;
2. Fails to provide adequate urine for controlled substance testing without a valid medical explanation after he or she has received notice of the requirement for testing in accordance with this policy; or
3. Engages in conduct that clearly obstructs the testing process.
(F) Test results.
(1) County employees testing positive for alcohol (0.04 or greater) or for a controlled substance shall be prohibited indefinitely from performing any function for the county and referred to their immediate supervisor. County employees testing 0.02 or greater for alcohol, but less than 0.4 shall also be prohibited from performing any function for the county, nor shall the county permit him or her to perform any county function until the start of the employee’s [missing text]
(2) After verify a positive result, the testing service, through the County Board of Commissioners, or its designee, shall make every reasonable effort to contact the county employee, and afford him or her the opportunity to discuss test results. If after making all reasonable efforts and documenting them, the Board of Commissioners, or its designee, shall contact the county employee’s supervisor, who shall direct the employee to contact the Board of Commissioners, or its designee, as soon as possible (within 48 hours).
(3) Employees may be subject to discipline, up to and including discharge.
(G) Retention of records. All records will be maintained in confidentiality by the drug and alcohol testing service appointed by the county.
(BC Ord. 1995-12, passed 9-11-1995; Ord. 2020-0010, passed 1-6-2020)