Photo Courtesy of Ryan Duey
Clay County’s new Emergency Management Director, Jim Bogart, was the guest speaker at the Clay Center Lions Club’s weekly meeting on May 20th. Bogart stepped into this new role after 15 years of law enforcement and K9 service for the Clay County Sheriff’s Office.
Bogart said he took over for Pam Kemp, who retired after 41 years as director. Bogart said the Emergency Manager is responsible for planning and mitigating disasters in the county. He said there after five areas he works under.
“Emergency managers are responsible for planning and mitigating any natural disasters or man-made terrorist attacks that have happened.”
“Every county in the state has an emergency manager. By state statute, they have to. There are five areas that we work in: prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.”
The Emergency Management Director is in charge of preparing and revising the county’s mitigation plan for the state and FEMA. The plan helps cover certain entities and organizations in case of a disaster.
“I am currently working on the 2025-2026 mitigation plan for the county, which all our county entities, some of our government agencies, and private organizations have joined in.”
“That mitigation plan covers the county with FEMA, which includes all the organizations that signed up to be part of the plan.”
Bogart also spoke on the floodplains within the county and the property owners requesting permits to build on a floodplain, which must be approved by the state. He said the floodplain map has recently changed for the county, with small changes in the map.
Bogart finished his presentation speaking about the Emergency Response Plan that is prepared and kept throughout the county. All entities, businesses, and organizations in the county’s Mitigation Plan have a copy.
