(Radio Iowa) – The Mills County Board of Supervisors and the county’s Board of Health have dismissed seven staffers in the Mills County Public Health Department. Both boards cite mismanagement and a lack of transparency — and the county’s potential legal liability for the misuse of grant money. The county’s public health administrator and a former administrator who had been working as a consultant have been fired. Five other staff members were laid off. Two home health aides and a public health nurse are being retained. Mills County Supervisor Jack Sayers serves on the county’s board of health.

Mills County Supervisor Richard Crouch says county officials have been wrestling with the situation for months.

According to a written statement, Mills County Supervisors determined they are legally prohibited from directing county tax dollars to the agency due to ongoing investigations into the Mills County Board of Health’s misuse of funds and lack of transparency. The now-fired public health administrator for Mills County has said she did everything she could to mitigate problems with how grant money had been improperly distributed and there are no current concerns about how grant money is being spent.