Kootenai County Schedules Public Interviews for Next HR Director

More than 800 county employees, the people staffing Kootenai County's public safety operations, courts, public works crews and social services offices, will feel the downstream effects of a hiring decision the Board of County Commissioners began working through on March 27, when the county held two rounds of public interviews for its next Human Resources Director.

The county posted morning and afternoon "Human Resources Director Interviews" as special-meeting agendas on its Agenda Center, opening both sessions to public observation. Commissioners or their designees participated directly in evaluating the candidates, a level of board involvement that reflects the position's reach across every county department.

The HR Director oversees the full range of the county's workforce functions: recruiting and retaining staff, administering benefits and compensation programs, managing labor relations and training, and advising county leadership on compliance with state and federal employment law. Job postings for the role described additional responsibilities including directing training and organizational development initiatives, work that directly shapes how quickly departments can fill vacancies and sustain service levels.

Kootenai County's growth in recent years has compounded the complexity of that mandate. Recruitment materials for the position emphasized candidates with public-sector HR leadership experience, strong labor-relations skills and the ability to modernize HR systems, a profile reflecting the county's need to align staffing and compensation strategies with both budget constraints and expanding service demands.

The county listed a competitive public-sector salary range for the position and included veteran preference and ADA accommodation provisions in its recruitment materials.

A final appointment is expected once hiring deliberations are complete.