Role of the Local Health Officer
Reporting and Acting on Complaints
In a book kept for that purpose, the local health officer shall make and keep a record of al the proceedings, transactions, doings, orders, and regulations of that local health officer. The local health officer shall assist in the reporting, prevention, and suppression of diseases and conditions dangerous to health, and that local health officer is subject to the supervision and direction of the department.
Reporting Communicable Diseases
The local health officer shall report promptly to the commissioner of Health and Human Services, or the commissioner's designee, facts that relate to the communicable diseases occurring within the limits of the health officer's jurisdiction, and shall report to the commissioner, or the commissioner's designee, every case of communicable disease as the rules of the department require. Those diseases that the rules of the department may require to be reported are known, as notifiable diseases.
Receiving, Evaluating, and Inspecting Public Health Threat Complaints
The local health officer shall receive and evaluate complaints made by any of the inhabitants concerning nuisances posing a potential public health threat within the limits of the health officer's jurisdiction. With the consent of the owner, agent, or occupant, the local health officer may enter upon or within any place or premises where nuisances or conditions posing a public health threat are known or believed to exist, and personally, or by appointed agents, inspect and examine the same. If entry is refused, the local health officer shall apply for an inspection warrant from the District Court, pursuant to Title 4, Section 179, prior to conducting the inspection.
Suppressing and Removing Public Health Threats
When the local health officer has reasonable cause to suspect the presence of a communicable disease, the local health officer shall consult with the commissioner, or a designee. The local health officer shall then order the suppression and removal of nuisances and conditions posing a public health threat found to exist within the limits of the health officer's jurisdiction. For purposes of this section, "public health threat" means any condition or behavior that can reasonably be expected to place others at significant risk of exposure to infection with a communicable disease.
