State Rep. Kathy Heuer (left) meets with County Assessor Stacey O'Day as part of her day shadowing Allen County officials on Nov. 14.

State Representative Kathy Heuer got to spend some time this week getting to know more about the work performed by Allen County elected officials and their staffs.

Allen County government is one of the first in a series of Indiana Counties to offer a type of job shadowing program to Indiana state legislators. The program called State and Counties Partnering for Progress allows county officials and state legislators the opportunity to work together at the county level for a day. The goal is to provide legislators the chance to see an up close and personal view of county government operations. The Association of Indiana Counties (AIC) created this program in an effort to help legislators and county officials enhance their efforts to collaborate on effective solutions for the delivery of county services to taxpayers.

"This was an opportunity to broaden my knowledge base," said Rep. Heuer, whose district includes a portion of Allen County.  "We deal with so many issues that affect counties.  Unless I'm well informed and understand how pending legislation may affect counties, I'm not going to be doing a service to constituents."

Rep. Heuer job shadowed several County officials on Monday, November 14, including the Assessor, Auditor, Treasurer and Recorder. She also toured the new Citizens Square facility where several County government departments are now located.

AIC President Therese Brown, Allen County Commissioner, said county government officials desire to learn from state legislators and vice versa.  “We are hoping that many counties will lay out the welcome mat for state legislators to spend the day in county government,” said Commissioner Brown. “We are promoting a greater partnership between counties and the state, and believe that we as county officials and state legislators can learn a lot from each other by walking in each other’s shoes.”