EM Mission
em_logoDisasters, whether natural or man-caused, have happened and will continue to occur in Pennington County. Emergency Management employs 4 basic strategies to minimize the effects of a disaster while maximizing the community's resiliency.

  1. Preparedness: This step involves modifying our behaviors and actions to proactively prepare for the impacts of emergencies or disasters by adopting a preparedness mindset and maintaining a state of readiness to respond effectively when events occur.
  2. Response: In a large-scale disaster, the response phase involves not only trained emergency responders but also community members stepping in to help family, neighbors, and others, putting preparedness into action with effective communication.
  3. Recovery begins immediately, almost alongside the response effort, with the goal of restoring services and a sense of “normalcy." In some cases, this may be adapting to a new way of doing things and implementing changes to become more resilient. 
  4. Mitigation: Proactive changes and strategies to reduce the potential impact of a crisis and minimize damage.  Mitigation efforts address immediate vulnerabilities and help prevent similar disasters from causing the same level of harm in the future.

Mission Statement

  • To warn of impending danger
  • When required, support local response agencies with timely, effective deployment of resources
  • Through the public information process, keep affected residents informed about the situation and how they can protect themselves
  • Coordinate and direct restoration and recovery operations when local government resources are exhausted
  • Assess local needs and coordinate support from the State of South Dakota and the federal government as necessary and appropriate

History & Organization

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