The Emergency Services chapter 2.68, part 5, of the County Code relating to emergency services designates the Sheriff as the Director of Emergency Operations with responsibility for coordinating emergency operations following whole, or partial, activation of the County Operational Area Organization.
The Operational Area Organization is defined as an intermediate level of the Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS) consisting of the County and all political subdivisions within the county.
The Sheriff, as Director of Emergency Operations, shall have the following duties:
- To establish and maintain the County Emergency Operations Center to serve the Operational Area upon activation of the Operational Area Organization;
- To coordinate the utilization of County, local government, state and federal resources within the Operational Area;
- To coordinate operations conducted by local governments in the County Operational Area in accordance with approved mutual aid and operations plans consistent with the authority of the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, as Operational Area Coordinator;
- To disseminate emergency information and instructions to the public,
- To collect and disseminate emergency information to concerned jurisdictions and agencies;
- To request the Chief Administrative Officer to requisition personnel and/or property as necessary for the conduct of emergency operations;
- To select and designate, at his discretion, members of an Operations Advisory Council to advise and assist him in the performance of his duties as Director of Emergency Operations. The composition of such an advisory council shall be determined on the basis of the situation prevailing at the time; and
- To respect, insofar as possible, in carrying out the above duties, the integrity of local government entities, and the unity of their service forces.