Pennington County

9-1-1 Dispatch
The Emergency Services Communications Center is a public safety answering point 911 Dispatch Badgeserving as the community's first line of contact with public safety authorities of Rapid City, Pennington County and Jackson County. Answering both 9-1-1 and non-emergency requests for law enforcement, fire and EMS and dispatching emergency responders for the sheriff's offices, police departments, fire departments and EMS agencies.

Auditor's Office
The Auditor’s Office is responsible for auditing all accounts and maintaining all financial records in and for Pennington County. This includes processing payroll, preparing the annual budget, establishing levies and apportioning of all tax collections. Monthly audits of all cash and cash items in the hands of the County Treasurer and a verification of bank account balances are performed. Annual Financial Reports are prepared indicating the receipts and expenditures, liabilities and equity, and assets of the County.

Board of County Commissioners
The Board of County Commissioners is the legislative and governing body of Pennington County, SD. The commission meets on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 9 in the Commission Chambers (County Administration Building, 130 Kansas City Street, Rapid City). During these public meetings, commissioners hear and vote on a variety of issues. Whether enacting ordinances and resolutions or approving budgets and expenditures, this board has the responsibility to provide for the safety and welfare of all Pennington County residents.

Building and Grounds
The Buildings & Grounds Department is responsible for operations and maintenance of all county facilities. It also coordinates planning and construction of existing and new facilities.

Pennington County Emergency Management
Emergency Management serves as the countywide agency for the purpose of overseeing the planning, response, recovery and mitigation of any and all major disasters/emergencies that occur within the county.

Equalization
The function of the office of the Equalization Department is to annually assess all taxable real property in Pennington County for property tax purposes. This office is responsible for the accurate assessment and inventory of approximately 53,000 parcels of property with a value of near $9 billion. This property assessment is the tax base for local government funding for Pennington County, Rapid City and other towns in the county, local school districts, organized townships within the county, and various other tax districts such as fire, water, and road districts.

Fire Administration
Pennington County Fire Administration provides the following services: Workman's compensation insurance, as directed by state law, to all volunteer firefighters in Pennington County.
Vehicle liability insurance for all fire vehicles that are owned or co-owned by Pennington County and/or the local volunteer fire department.
Assistance to Pennington County volunteer fire departments in the purchase of firefighting equipment, vehicles, training and other fire-related activities. Serves as a focal point for fire-related items (this may include, but is not limited to, administration, training, financial, public and/or news media relations, operations--both structural and wild land, and hazardous material.) Advises the Pennington County Board of Commissioners on fire-related activities.
Acts as liaison among law enforcement agencies, state and national agencies, various other county officials and other fire departments.

Health and Human Services
Pennington County Health and Human Services consists of two different agencies; County Economic Assistance and Veteran's Service Office.

Highway Department
The Pennington County Highway Department is responsible for 837 miles of road and 139 bridges. In addition to routine repair and maintenance, this responsibility includes snow removal operations and major reconstruction projects. The Highway Superintendent administers this service with a workforce of 50 employees under the direction of the Pennington County Board of Commissioners.

Human Resources
The Human Resources Office functions as the centralized job application agent for all Pennington County Departments. This includes posting all available position openings, processing all applications received, and documenting equal employment opportunity and affirmative action statistics.

Information Technology
The Pennington County Information Technology Department provides a variety of services to County Departments to support the business needs of Pennington County. These services include consulting, system development, Internet, strategic planning, data center services, application support and network services.

Planning and Zoning
The Planning Department is responsible for the development and enforcement of Ordinances that regulate matters such as land use, construction activities, on-site wastewater treatment systems, public nuisances, subdivision improvements, floodplain, and water quality. The Department also reviews current development proposals such as Building Permits, Conditional Use Permits, Rezonings, Subdivisions, and Variances.

Public Defender
The Pennington County Public Defenders Office is appointed by the courts of Pennington County to represent all indigent persons who by law are entitled to be represented by an attorney in the proceeding in which they are involved. The attorneys in the Public Defender's office primarily represent adults and juveniles charged with crimes, but the office also represents persons on mental and alcohol commitments, other juvenile court proceedings, and appeals and post-conviction proceedings.

Register of Deeds
The Register of Deeds Office keeps full and true computerized, filmed and scanned records of deeds, mortgages and other instruments authorized by law to be recorded. Filings consist of UCC's, fictitious names, bills of sale, county indigent liens, sheriff's levy, personal property liens, federal tax liens, state tax liens and other miscellaneous documents. Birth, death and marriage certificates are issued from the South Dakota Department of Health Vital Records system.

Sheriff's Office
The Pennington County Sheriff’s Office has 372 employees, an annual budget of approximately $28 million, and serves over 100,000 citizens spread out over Pennington County’s 2,784 square miles. We also serve a high number of visitors and tourists to our area as Pennington County is home to Mount Rushmore National Monument and Ellsworth Air Force Base.

State's Attorney
The Pennington County State's Attorney is the chief prosecutor of adult and juvenile crimes in Pennington County. Other responsibilities include protecting children who may be living in abusive or neglectful homes, representing the County in all legal matters, working with other states in returning fugitives and extraditing suspects, etc.

Treasurer
The Treasurer's Office is responsible for:
Collecting all taxes for Pennington County, including real estate and mobile home taxes and special assessments. Issuing titles and licenses for new and used motor vehicles, motorcycles, trailers, snowmobiles and boats. Releasing and notating motor vehicle liens. Assisting taxpayers in applying for duplicate motor vehicle titles. Receiving and accounting for all Pennington County funds. Managing Pennington County’s investments. Submitting monthly remittance payments to the State of South Dakota as required by law. Issuing distress warrants on behalf of the Department of Revenue and Department of Labor as required by law.

Weed & Pest
it is the goal of Pennington County Weed & Pest Department to conduct and manage a sound, integrated weed & pest management program with the resources available. This goal will be accomplished through willing cooperation with other government agencies, private property owners, and surrounding counties.