New EHRCC Director named
Published on July 06, 2022
Chris Crawford has been named as Jackson County’s new director of the Ethics, Human Relations and Citizen Complaints Department.
Crawford has been involved in state and county politics since graduating from the University of Missouri in 2013. He first served as legislative assistant in the Missouri House of Representatives and then as a legislative aide at Jackson County. He also earned his Master of Public Affairs degree from the MU’s Harry S. Truman School of Public Affairs.
The mission of the Ethics, Human Relations and Citizen Complaints Department (EHRCC) is to secure and protect the individual rights of citizens of Jackson County:
- By reconciling problems, issues and tension between government and citizens
- Promoting justice and improving human relations
- Improving the quality of government administration
As a legislative aide Crawford has plenty of experience receiving complaints and opinions from citizens and coordinating solutions with the appropriate county departments.
“My whole professional career is kind of experience for this job,” Crawford said. “I have been working with elected officials and constituents for 10 years, dealing with citizen issues and complaints. I have been bridging the gap as a liaison between citizens and their government for a long time.”
Dealing with citizen complaints is just one component of what the EHRCC does. It is also responsible for ensuring that the ethics code of the county gets followed by elected officials, appointed officials and county leaders.
“It is the human relations component that is really important, meeting people where they are at and getting through their problems,” he said.
Crawford heard a lot of good things about the department coming in and would like to continue that good work. His hope for the future is to grow and embrace the ethics and citizen relations areas of the department.
“I think a lot of times people in the county just focus on the complaints portion and the department gets kind of a ‘who would want to be there’ kind of wrap for that reason,” he said. “I think growing into the other two components is a goal of mine for the department. Making it a little more desirable for people to work in and a little more approachable for citizens.”
The EHRCC serves as Jackson County's ombudsman and has the power to conduct formal investigations and issue reports. The ombudsman/director is an independent public official who receives complaints from aggrieved persons against County departments, agencies and officials.