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A. The following departments and offices are established:

1. Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department;

2. Prosecutor.

NOTE: The following departmental descriptions are intended to designate the powers and responsibilities of those departments and are not intended to limit the Pierce County Executive or department directors with regard to the departments' internal organizational structure.

B. Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department. The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department is a joint City-County department defined by Chapter 70.080 RCW and by a written agreement between Pierce County and the City of Tacoma.

1. The Health Department has as its basic functions:

a. Epidemiologic surveillance, looking at the determinants and distribution of disease and disability in the human population.

b. Technical advisor on health matters to policy makers and the public.

c. Provider or guarantor of last resort.

2. The department is administered by the Director of Health and governed by a five-person Board: Mayor of Tacoma, Pierce County Executive, Pierce County Councilmember, Tacoma Councilmember, Community Member-At-Large, Nonvoting Member from Pierce County Cities and Towns Association.

3. The department includes the following functions and/or divisions:

a. Administrative Services which includes fiscal management of the department, personnel and volunteer services and support services including Vital Statistics, Laboratory and Central Supply Services.

b. Environmental Health which includes vector control services (rodents, etc.), environmental complaints (garbage, animal keeping practices, etc.), food service protection, water resource protection services (groundwater, marine water protection, etc.), public water supply services, on-site sewage disposal, solid and hazardous waste disposal, recreational sanitation (swimming pools, bathing beaches, camps, etc.), institutional sanitation (schools), and physical and chemical hazards.

c. Family and Community Health Services provides public health services to individuals of all age groups as well as to community groups. Services are organized in three Sections. The Parent Child Health services include family planning, prenatal, and well child. This Section also serves physically and emotionally disturbed children. The Community Health Section focuses primarily on adults in well adult clinics, and skilled home health care. In addition, the four primary care clinics, Eastside, Family, Sumner, and Lakewood, provide care. The Disease Control Section provides tuberculosis, sexually transmitted disease, general communicable diseases and substance abuse services.

d. Emergency Medical Services Division is charged with the coordination of prehospital care activities in Pierce County. In this capacity it is responsible for the certification of prehospital personnel, dissemination of public information and education, providing and/or coordinating CPR training, coordinating the designation process and development of the base station and trauma center system and establishment of a county-wide emergency communications system.

C. Prosecutor. This department shall be headed by the elected Pierce County Prosecutor whose duties and responsibilities are regulated by RCW 36.27.020. The department includes the following functions and/or divisions:

1. Civil which performs the function of an "in-house" law firm for the County and represents the County as plaintiff or respondent in civil actions which the County brings against others or which are brought against the County and advises all County agencies, department heads and elected officials in civil law matters.

2. Criminal which determines whether criminal charges should be filed against persons accused of having committed crimes within Pierce County and prosecutes criminal charges which are filed as a result of such a determination. It includes the following units:

a. Traffic and Misdemeanor which charges and prosecutes persons accused of criminal traffic and misdemeanor violations.

b. Family Support which charges and prosecutes Pierce County residents accused of failing to comply with court-ordered support payments in this state or another.

c. Special assault unit which charges and prosecutes domestic violence, sexual assault and custodial interference cases.

d. Victim-Witness which assists the other departmental divisions, the probation office and the courts in determining the value of court-ordered restitution, collecting the restitution and disbursing it to the victims of the crimes in question, keeps victims informed of the progress of their cases and provides other victim assistance as needed.

e. Juvenile which charges and prosecutes juvenile criminal cases.

(Ord. 2021-80 § 1, 2021; Ord. 2009-91s § 1 (part), 2009; Ord. 85-77S § 1 (part), 1985)