Scott County employees to be tested for drugs

BENTON, Mo. -- The Scott County government is planning to implement a drug testing policy this fall for all county employees.

Presiding Commissioner Jamie Burger said the county is researching testing options and putting together a policy on drug testing. The county will likely institute random drug tests for all county employees. Up to this point the county has had no testing policy for its employees.

Burger said he's not sure why the county hasn't had an employee drug testing policy but that the county government has "a duty to the public to make sure we have a clean work force."

Under the new policy, employees will be screened prior to employment, in case of accidents and at random, with 50 percent of the county's about 100 employees being tested each year. Those random tests will be split by quarters of the calendar year. Burger estimates the cost to be about $2,200 per year.

Burger said the move to implement the drug testing policy doesn't mean the county leadership has a suspicion that drug use is rampant among employees; the county just wants to make sure it's in line with what other employers are doing.

Employees with commercial driver's licenses are already tested per guidelines set by the U.S. Department of Transportation, and Scott County Sheriff's Department employees undergo pre-employment drug screening.

Scott County's new policy will be much more stringent than the policy in effect in Cape Girardeau County. Cape Girardeau County has a "drug-free workplace," said county clerk Kara Clark, but the only county departments that require pre-employment screenings are the road and bridge department and the sheriff's department.

The sheriff's department conducts random testing of its 62 employees using a system similar to the one being proposed in Scott County at a cost of $2,000 to $2,500 per year, said Capt. Ruth Ann Dickerson.

Clark said county employees can also be tested if reasonable suspicion exists that they have been using drugs, if they have a wreck in a county vehicle or have another on-the-job accident.

Scott City randomly drug tests all of its employees and tests all new hires at the police department. Jackson also conducts pre-employment, post-accident and random testing for all its employees. Calls to Cape Girardeau's human resources department were not returned Friday, but the city's Web site said it requires pre-employment screening for all employees.

Scott County Clerk Rita Milam said she thinks county employees will be receptive to the new drug testing requirements.

"It's hard to say how employees will react, but knowing my employees, I don't think any of them have anything to hide, so they don't object," Milam said.

msanders@semissourian.com

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