RIO GRANDE COUNTY – For the past two meetings, Rio Grande County Commissioners have had discussions considering changing the Rio Grande County Clerk office hours back to Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

For just over a year, the clerk’s office has been working a four-day week with longer hours to accommodate people who either need to do business before or after work. The schedule change was brought to the commissioner for consideration by Rio Grande County Clerk Cindy Hill and the commission at the time agreed with the change in hours.

Since the change, the current commission began receiving letters requesting that the office move back to normal hours due to the fact that most of the Valley teachers, especially, run on a four-day work week and because the office is closed on Fridays, it has impeded their ability to do business.

This sparked in-depth conversations among the public and the board of county commissioners, creating a line between those who wanted the hours to remain the same four-day week and those who wanted the hours to change back.

During the meeting on March 4, the public turned out to speak on the matter, and the majority spoke about the need to go back to the five-day week schedule.

“We are the taxpayers and we are the ones who have to catch this office open to do business. Most of the Valley goes by the four-day work week because of the schools and we need them to be open on Fridays because that is the only day we have to do business,” stated one member of the public.

After hearing from the public, commissioners made a motion to change the office hours back to the five-day work week and based on a recommendation from Rio Grande County Administrator Skip Schoen, the county would give the clerk’s office until July 1, 2026, to adjust its schedule.

Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the change.