In 1962 the Rapid City / Pennington County Civil Defense District was created by a joint resolution passed by the Pennington County Board of Commission and the Rapid City Common Council. The new organization was established to primarily plan and train for a local response to nuclear war. New joint resolutions were passed in 1975 and 1978 to keep the structure of the organization current with State law. The year 1992 saw the passage of a new resolution that changed the name of the organization to Rapid City / Pennington County Emergency Management to reflect better the expanding all-hazard approach to disaster management and more closely align with similar federal, state, and local disaster management organizations. It serves as the countywide agency to oversee the planning, response, recovery, and mitigation of any and all major disasters/emergencies that occur within the county. It also serves all political subdivisions within the county including townships, villages, and municipalities. The office currently operates under the authority of a Joint Powers Agreement that was signed in 2012 and the organization is managed by an Emergency Management Users Board.

In Pennington County, the Emergency Management Office also serves as the emergency coordination and public information arm of the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) under the EPCRA (Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA), Title III.

The Emergency Manager (EM) has the responsibility for maintaining the county’s Emergency Operation Center (EOC) located in the Pennington County Administration Building at 130 Kansas City Street in Rapid City and for establishing secondary EOC’s as needed. The agency is also charged with the establishment and updating of the county’s Emergency Operations Plan. The agency is staffed by a Director, Deputy Director, EM Specialist, and Staff Assistant.

History of Emergency Managers/Civil Defense Coordinators in Pennington County

 

Emergency Manager

November 2011 - Present: Dustin Willett
July 2007 - April 2011: Anthony Carbajal
April 1992 - July 2007: Park Owens

Civil Defense Director/Coordinator

November 1980 - April 1992: Illa Cannon
February 1977 - October 1980: Bob Chalberg
November 1972 - December 1976: Don Martini
March 1962 - September 1972: Harold Irish