County schedules district court judge interviews; planning director reports budget trimming and cannabis-study consultant selection

County leaders set times for district court judge interviews and heard a departmental update from the planning director about budget and hiring plans.

The board scheduled a work session and interviews for district court judge applicants: staff said Monday is set for a 10:30 a.m. preparatory review of applications, with interviews scheduled from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on the same day. Staff said there are four applicants and that if interviews run 45 minutes each, the panel could complete them that day; additional time was available on Tuesday if needed.

The planning director told the board the department is finding areas to trim its budget and expects to come close to a 20 percent reduction goal in some categories, and said the department will advertise for a compliance coordinator. The planning director also said that, with Commissioner Veil and another commissioner, they had interviewed consultants for an economic-impact study on cannabis operations and planned to reconvene the next day to select a consultant and finalize the contract.

No formal appointments or hiring decisions were made during the meeting; staff said they would advertise the compliance-coordinator position and return with finalized consultant selection and scheduling details for judge interviews.

The board did not take any votes during these administrative updates; staff were directed to proceed with posting position announcements and to finalize interview logistics for the judicial applicants.