Last year (2021), Congress and President Joe Biden approved adding June 19 each year– known as Juneteenth Day– to the list of national holidays federal employees get as a paid day off. South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem then followed suit and added the annual date to this list of holidays state employees get as a paid day off of work.
Many local governments, businesses and organizations use the list of major federal holidays as a guide for giving their employees paid days off. This year, June 19 falls on a Sunday, so those entities are observing the day off today (June 20, 2022).
The Pierre and Fort Pierre city offices and Stanley County offices are closed today in observance of Juneteenth. Hughes County, however, is handling the holiday slightly differently. While employees do get Juneteenth as a paid day off, the commission has declared it “Hughes County Day.” The commission made the designation at its Dec. 20, 2021, meeting when reviewing the list of holidays to be listed in the county’s 2022 employee manual. Official minutes of the meeting posted on the Hughes County website show the action was, “Moved by Rounds and seconded by Brown to approve the addition of June 19th to the list of observed holidays in the policy manual for Hughes County employees, and that it will be known as Hughes County Day. All voted Aye. Motion passed.”
“Juneteenth Day” in the United States officially marks the anniversary of the enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation, which is recognized as the end of slavery in the United States.
To read the complete minutes of the Dec. 20, 2021, Hughes County Commission meeting, click this link: 2021Dec20 Hughes County Commission meeting minutes.
Screenshot of Dec. 20, 2022, Hughes County Commission meeting minutes.
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