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Johnson County is officially participating in the Kansas City Corporate Challenge 

We are excited to be participating in the Kansas City Corporate Challenge once again!

You can receive wellness points for assisting with or participating in the challenge. A maximum of 20 points can be earned for this event.  

• 5 points for each event completed.  
• 5 points for volunteering for an event in a non-participant capacity (up to a maximum of 10 points).  
• 5 points for serving as an Event Coordinator.  
• 10 points for serving as a Company Coordinator  

Kansas City Corporate Challenge is opening with a kickoff party on Friday, April 7 at the Truman Sports Complex. Come out between 4-7:30 p.m. and walk a mile to earn 5 wellness points. This event is open to employees and their families and will be for participation only. Each legal participant will earn Johnson County one point towards the challenge. 

For more information and to learn how to get registered visit InsideJoCo.

Johnson County Government hires new deputy county manager

Julie Karins will join our organization as deputy county manager. Julie comes to our organization with 23 years of local government experience both at the county and city levels, with 12 of those years at the top of her organizations. Her most recent role is city manager of Goodyear, Arizona, which is the ninth fastest growing community in the country.

“I was impressed by Julie’s skill set, ability to successfully navigate complex situations, the depth of her experience and her positive energy,” said County Manager Penny Postoak Ferguson. “I look forward to our workforce getting the chance to meet her and work with her!”

Julie has three adult children who live in the Kansas City metro and is excited to join them here. Her first day with us is on Feb. 27. Learn more about Julie here.

W-2's now available in Oracle

Each employee's CY2022 W-2 form has been archived and is available for viewing and printing using the JOCO Employee Self-Service Human Resources responsibility in Oracle. 

Many county employees elected to retrieve and print their W-2 electronically. W-2’s were put in the mail this week for those employees that did not elect to retrieve them electronically this year. 

If an employee does not receive their W-2 in the mail, misplaces their W-2, or needs their W-2 for other financial reasons later in the year, the employee can print their own W-2 for this last year or for all years employed at the county through their JOCO Employee SSHR responsibility instead of contacting FMA-Payroll.   

If you have any questions, please e-mail FMA-Payroll. 

What's the risk in using county devices for personal use?

You may have the desire during your workday to check your child's sports schedule, pay a bill, look up a recipe or shop online during a break. However, this can be risky behavior, as malicious websites may be suggested by search engines.

The DTI Security team has recently investigated several incidents of county employees visiting malicious sites on county-owned devices. This starts as a seemingly harmless Google search, but goes bad when a malicious website is returned in the top search results or ads. When clicked, these links open the county up to potential threats of malware, viruses, and ransomware.

If you suspect you’ve inadvertently visited a malicious website or if you receive a suspicious pop-up message on your county-owned PC or laptop, please contact your Support Desk immediately and be prepared to provide information about the website(s) you visited to assist in the investigation.

Learn more about the consequences of using the internet for personal use at work in this article. 

Reminder to complete monthly Cybersecurity Awareness Training by Jan. 31

A new cybersecurity training course launched at the start of the new year for the Internet of Things: January 2023 Security Awareness Training. 

Internet of Things refers to the collective network of connected devices and the technology that facilitates communication between devices and the cloud, as well as between the devices themselves.

This month's training module is only four minutes long, so no excuse to miss it. ​​​​​​​Please complete this training by Jan. 31. 

All employees with access to Johnson County information technology systems and information are required to complete cybersecurity awareness education. Start the Internet of Things training module now.

Keeping your financial accounts safe and secure

How secure are your accounts? You are your own first line of defense against the ongoing risk of fraud, cyber threats and other unauthorized activity. Learn some tips to help stay safe online here.

You play an important role in keeping your account secure.

To register or log into your Johnson County START Plan account online, visit https://voyaretirementplans.com.

You can also visit https://voya.com/terms-use/voya-security to learn more about Voya’s commitment to safeguarding your START account and more ways to protect your account and identity. Take action today.

Attend Voya’s live webinar: "Invest in Your Future” on Feb. 23 at 1 p.m.

One of the most important things you can do for yourself is to invest in your future. With so many short- and long-term financial goals though, how do you know where to start?

This webinar will focus on the different ways to save so you can feel confident that your money will be there when you need it. You’ll learn about the cost of retirement, setting financial goals, creating a savings plan, improving your financial wellness and more.

You must register to attend in Oracle Class Enrollment. Earn 5 points towards the County Wellness Program with your attendance. Learn more here.

Celebrate Kansas’ birthday on Kansas Day

Kansas’ birthday is coming up! Sunday, Jan. 29 is Kansas Day, a celebration of our state’s birthday and the anniversary of Kansas’ admission to the Union.

In 2023, Kansas turns 162 years old. Kansas became the 34th state in the United States on Jan. 29, 1861.

Historically, Johnson County is older than the State of Kansas. The county turns 168 years old this year as one of Kansas’ original 33 counties founded in 1855.

County Manager Penny Postoak Ferguson touched on Kansas Day during today’s Board of County Commissioners meeting, encouraging the public to explore Kansas history and visit local landmarks.

Learn more about our state and county’s history and ways you can celebrate Kansas Day.

InsideJoCo is getting a new address

DTI is excited to announce that as of Thursday, Feb. 2 at 5 p.m., InsideJoCo will move to a new location in the Microsoft Cloud.

This move of over 65 sites was made in partnership with various departments as the current location is approaching end-of-life and will be retired.

Please note that the new address for InsideJoCo is https://jocogov.sharepoint.com. If you have a browser homepage or bookmarks that contain the old InsideJoCo address, please update them accordingly.

For assistance on updating your homepage, refer to Setting Default Home Page in Browser or contact DTI Support for any technology-related questions.

BOCC recap

Today's Board of County Commissioners meeting included the following:

• Declared a 2012 Ford F450 super duty ambulance from Johnson County MED-Act as surplus and authorized its sale for $15,000 to Johnson County Community College for use in its emergency medical services and automotive technology programs in training students. The current ambulance unit that JCCC utilizes has reached the end of its useful life and needs to be replaced.
• Johnson County Wastewater presented a summary of its integrated plan and highlighted the accomplishments made by the program team in 2022. The presentation is attached here.
• A second public information workshop for New Century Air Center’s ongoing Airport Land Use Compatibility Update is scheduled from 6-8 p.m. Jan. 31 at the Gardner Justice Center.

More information on these and other items from today’s meeting is available at boccmeetings.jocogov.org.

Listen to the latest JoCo on the Go podcast

JoCo on the Go is a podcast featuring everything Johnson County. Choose from more than 100 episodes about a wide range of topics featuring Johnson County Government subject matter experts. Also hear from community partners, volunteers and residents about how Johnson County programs and services impact them.

Episodes are about 20 minutes each and provide plenty of information about the topics that matter to you!

Here’s a look at our most recent episode:

Veterans Treatment Court Mentors

Johnson County also sponsors another great podcast – Johnson County Library’s Did You Hear? Listen to them both at jocogov.org/podcast.