Clinton County Board chairman Brad Knolhoff speaks to a group of Aviston 4-H Aces. Members of the Aviston 4-H Aces learned about local government and parliamentary procedure on Sunday, Oct. 18.
The Aces had their meeting at the Clinton County boardroom. Guest speaker was Clinton County Board chairman Brad Knolhoff.
Knolhoff started by asking the youth what the county board does in the room. One of the youth said the board makes rules. Another said they talk about the expenses and they fix problems within the county.
Knolhoff told the group that there are five different districts within Clinton County. Three people are elected from each district to represent Clinton County. Knolhoff represents District 2.
Aviston 4-H Aces members and leaders pose for a photo with Clinton County Board chairman Brad Knolhoff. Photo by Matt Wilson The group was asked what the county government is responsible for. One 4-H member said making sure the rules are followed. Sheriff Dan Travous is the main person responsible for making sure the rules are followed. The sheriff serves four-year terms.
Another 4-H member said the county board is in charge of keeping control of the taxes.
Knolhoff said the court is another function of the county.
The county also is responsible for voting. Knolhoff asked the 4-H members when the next election is, and one member said November. Knolhoff and several other individuals will be on the Nov. 3 ballot.
The group learned about the function of the treasurer, who, after taxes are paid, distributes the money to county programs and services.
Aviston 4-H Aces member Madelyn Huelsmann sits in the judges chair during a tour of the Clinton County Courthouse. The county clerk runs the elections and helps do the secretary work for the county board. The clerk also is the recorder of land deeds.
Another function of the county is the jail and the 911 dispatch center. The dispatch center sends the appropriate people to emergencies.
"You don't want to send a person with an ambulance whenever there is a fire," Knolhoff said. "You don't want to send someone with a fire truck when someone needs help from a police officer."
The county also has a highway department to make sure the roads stay repaired and to push the snow off the road when needed.
The county is in charge of zoning and where buildings are built. Zoning enforces rules within the community for how land is used.
The county board meets once a month as a full board, but they also have committees. The committees meet and take recommendations to the full county board.
Aviston 4-H Aces president Tatum Tingley conducts a meeting in the Clinton County Boardroom. Knolhoff said almost all of the board members have a regular job and meetings are in the evenings. The board is governed by the state of Illinois and meetings have to be published on the county website, outside the meeting room and the courthouse.
"Our meetings are always open to the public," Knolhoff said. "Anybody from the public can walk in and be at our meeting at any time."
Aviston Aces leader Kimberly Wolter said meeting stories are published in the local newspapers to keep the public informed.
Wolter said everyone on the board is serving as community citizens because they wanted to take active roles in the community to make our county stronger.
"You guys are all choosing to be involved in 4-H, but hopefully you are learning things about being a good citizen and how we can strengthen our community," Wolter said.
Knolhoff said he saw something happening in the community and he wanted things to be better, so he got a petition that people signed, and submitted it to the county clerk. That allowed him to run for election.
"Someday when somebody like me decides not to do this anymore, we need people to step up and take care of those responsibilities," Knolhoff said. "I see a lot of good people in here that would do a great job at that someday."
A county board term is four years. Knolhoff served four years on the county board prior to becoming the chairman. There are no term limits on the county board.
Every county board meeting starts with a prayer and pledge of allegiance. The meeting gets called to order by the sheriff. After roll call, they hear reports from each committee and the treasurers report.
"What you guys are learning is exactly what we do when we run our meetings," Knolhoff told the youth. "If you don't follow the rules of parliamentary procedure, you just get one person that talks a lot and none of the business gets taken care of. That is why parliamentary procedure is important, to make sure that everybody gets a fair opportunity to say what they need to say."
The members toured the 911 dispatch center and heard from Jordan Hempen. The center dispatches out to 13 fire departments, seven police departments, and four ambulance departments. Hempen told the youth that if they ever have to call 9-1-1, to take a deep breath and give the best information that they can.
There is a four- to six-month training period to be a dispatcher.
The group then went to the Clinton County Courthouse and saw the outside of the state's attorney, circuit clerk and county clerk's offices. They then toured one of the courtrooms in the courthouse. They were told that not all negative things happen in a courtroom — there also are positive things such as marriages and adoptions.
The group then returned to the boardroom and president Tatum Tingley called the meeting back to order.
They ended the meeting with a project where they made trail mix and used proper procedure to vote on what items to put in the trail mix.
