Johnson County Coordinator Barb Davis (right) pictured with Indiana Association of County Commissioners 2022 President Diana Biddle after receiving Outstanding Supportive County Administrator of the Year Award during the annual IACC conference this month.
Submitted photo
Barb Davis has worked in county government for over four decades, and this month she was recognized statewide for her service to the community as the county coordinator.
Davis received the award for Outstanding Supportive County Administrator of the Year at the Indiana Association of County Commissioners annual conference. The award is in recognition of “her outstanding strengths that she demonstrates to assist her county commissioners to better serve local government and the public,” a news release from the IACC says.
Davis started her job as the Johnson County Coordinator in 2011, but she’s been working in the county government since 1981 in various capacities. She worked in the county auditor’s office before being named county coordinator.
“I was very honored. I didn’t even know that they even submitted my name for it,” she said. “I was very honored to both just be nominated and then winning.”
Davis is a lifelong Franklin resident. She began working for the Johnson County government as a way to give back to her community.
As county coordinator, Davis works for the Johnson County Board of Commissioners performing a number of administrative duties for them. Many of her duties are handling day-to-day operations for the commissioners, whether that is working on county building projects, or helping the departments managed by the commissioners, such as the health or highway departments. For county employees, she manages employee health insurance, unemployment and workers compensation.
She is in charge of preparing the commissioners’ annual budget, as well as looking over county department budgets before they go to the county council for approval. Davis additionally manages the county’s assets, including county-owned vehicles, buildings and equipment. She also takes on any tasks assigned to her by the commissioners.
Davis was nominated for the award by Commissioner Brian Baird, who was elected IACC board secretary at the recent conference. Baird, as well as Commissioners Kevin Walls and Ron West, applauded Davis for all the work she puts in as county coordinator.
“County Coordinator Davis’s exceptional support is the reason why our county commissioners are successful. She has been involved in all that we have been able to accomplish. She is highly respected and loyal as an employee, as a government partner, and as a friend,” Baird wrote in her nomination for the award.
Baird also said many times Davis may be more qualified to be a commissioner than him. He said she is “the most deserving of this award of anyone I have dealt with in government.”
“I had much to learn about local government, coming into government from private business but was told by my predecessor that our county coordinator had all the knowledge I needed to help me perform the duties of commissioner. He was correct,” Baird said.
For Davis, she said this award also is a testament to the success of Johnson County.
“We have hard-working, dedicated employees and elected officials,” Davis said. “With all of that together, I think it shows the whole state how good Johnson County is.”
