With about 600 employees, it should come as a surprise that Porter County government has no human resources department.

Councilman Jim Burge proposes to change that, beginning in 2009, with the addition of a $120,000 budget for a new HR department.

While expansion of government, especially in this fiscal climate, is to be discouraged, this is a rare exception.

Burge figures the $120,000 budget would cover the salaries of the HR director and an assistant plus some office supplies. That's not much in the county's huge budget.

And look at the benefits.

Instead of having each office holder set separate employment policies, the county would take a major leap forward into becoming a progressive workplace.

The HR director would set policies on hiring and firing employees, handle the payroll and benefits administration, create employee training programs, work with the information technology folks to create an intranet so workers are well informed, prepare a disaster recovery program and write an employee handbook, among other responsibilities.

By bringing good management practices to the county government, the HR director would reduce the county's exposure to lawsuits from disgruntled ex-employees. That alone could make the creation of an HR department a good investment.

So would establishing hiring practices that put more emphasis on job skills than nepotism and cronyism.

Burge's suggestion of assessing each department $200 per employee to fund the new agency seems unworkable, but the county surely can come up with the $120,000 needed for this initiative.

The Good Government Initiative has suggested something similar for Lake County. Porter County should profit from that advice.

Bring better management practices to the county government. They are clearly needed.