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Marshall County adopts ordinance on sewer board vacancies and declares McFadden seat vacant
Summary
The Board of Commissioners adopted Ordinance 2025-16 clarifying removal and vacancy rules for the Marshall County Regional Sewer District Board and voted to declare the seat held by Tom McFadden vacant, setting the stage for an appointment at the next meeting.
Marshall County commissioners on Monday adopted an ordinance clarifying how vacancies and removals on the Marshall County Regional Sewer District Board of Trustees are handled, and they voted to declare the seat held by Tom McFadden vacant.
The action came after a legal briefing from County Attorney Sean Sreesi and extended public comment and debate about the sewer district's authority and project spending. Sreesi told commissioners they were reaffirming the county’s intent from the 2022 petition that created the board and that the ordinance was an exercise of the county’s home-rule authority.
“Basically, the commissioners are doing two things,” Sreesi said during the discussion, summarizing the measure as (1) restating what the 2022 petition intended and (2) exercising home-rule authority to adopt a local ordinance.
The commission first moved to suspend rules and adopt Ordinance 2025-16 on second and third reading, then took a separate motion to declare the McFadden seat vacant. Both motions were approved by voice vote. The board said it will place an appointment to fill the seat on the agenda for the next meeting.
Why it matters: Commissioners said the ordinance resolves differing legal interpretations about whether appointed members could be removed at will or only for cause. Sreesi reviewed case law and statutory language — including a 2006 court decision (Fox v. Green) and Indiana Code provisions — and concluded the county’s petition language and home-rule authority support at-will removal in this instance.
Public comment before the vote included residents who criticized the sewer project’s cost and called for more transparency; speakers also pressed for alternatives to a countywide sewer hookup. Commissioners said adopting the ordinance and filling the seat does not itself require a sewer project and that any future steps would involve separate actions.
What the ordinance does: Commissioners said the measure affirms that appointing authorities — the county commissioners, the county council and the city mayor (as applicable under the petition) — may replace trustees under the petition language used to form the district. County Attorney Sreesi said the ordinance is intended to remove any doubt about whether vacancies can be declared and filled by the appointing authorities.
Next steps: The board will accept applications and consider candidates to fill the vacated seat at its next meeting. Commissioners also acknowledged legal risk: if the removed trustee or the district disagrees, the issue could be litigated and a court could be asked to resolve competing legal opinions.
By the numbers: Commissioners referenced the 2022 petition that formed the district and cited relevant state statutes during the discussion; no fiscal appropriation accompanied the ordinance vote.
Commissioners said the ordinance and vacancy declaration do not prevent any citizen group or subdivision from pursuing its own sewer district in the future; the action applies only to the governance and appointment rules of the county-created regional sewer district.
