Clay County board reorganizes for 2017, names Mockler chair and sets operating rules

Travis Mockler was elected chair of the Clay County Board of Commissioners at the Jan. 3, 2017 reorganizational meeting after paper ballots produced a 3–2 result over Phyllis Packard. County Auditor Carri R. Crum led the session. The board then appointed officers and department leads, including Layne Stewart as Emergency Management Director for a one‑year term and Robert Fuller to the Public Safety Board for a three‑year term.

The board adopted administrative policies to guide operations for the year: mileage was set at $0.42 per mile (to match any state increase during the year), meal rates were fixed at $32 per day, and per‑diems for commissioners serving on outside boards were set at $20 plus mileage. Commissioners also designated the Vermillion Plain Talk and the Tri‑County News as official legal newspapers and selected a set of banks as official county depositories. The reorganizational actions were passed by motion and recorded as carried by the full board.