The Lawrence County Commission on a single morning approved a series of routine resolutions, personnel actions, fee schedules and board appointments, including the county's elected-officials pay schedule, designation of polling locations, depositories and planning-and-zoning fee changes.

The votes were largely procedural and passed by voice vote. One substantive recorded split occurred on adding state-recognized holidays to the county holiday list, which passed 4-1 after an amendment.

The package included resolutions to set elected officials' compensation and precinct polling places; designation of the Black Hills Pioneer as the county's legal newspaper; adoption of a planning and zoning fee schedule; updated inmate incarceration daily fees; and routine administrative items such as cell-phone per diem rates and reinstatement of sheriff's office positions for 2025.

Commissioners also approved a range of personnel and payroll items presented by departments: classification changes and new position effective dates, cell-phone stipends standardized across three tiers ($50, $75 and $104 per month), and the county's longevity and wage scales to memorialize budget decisions for 2025. The sheriff's office staffing plan was reinstated for 2025 and included two chief deputies, two lieutenants, four sergeants, 11 deputies and a complement of jail and dispatch staff.

A number of board and committee appointments were confirmed, including making the county commission act as the board of adjustment and building-code board where indicated; appointments to natural resources, fair board, Lawrence County Housing, and multiple advisory councils were also approved. Volunteer search-and-rescue and emergency-management rosters were approved for insurance/workers-comp coverage.

Planning and zoning matters handled during the meeting included approval of several preliminary and final plats and exempt-plat determinations where owners consolidated lots or reconfigured lot lines; planning staff reported fire-mitigation plans on file or in process where required.

Votes at a glance
- Motion to approve the amended agenda: approved (voice).
- Resolution 2025-1 (elected-officials compensation): approved (voice).
- Resolution 2025-2 (designation of polling places/precincts): approved (voice).
- Resolution 2025-3 (designation of depositories): approved (voice).
- Resolution 2025-4 (planning and zoning fee schedule): approved (voice).
- Resolution 2025-5 (inmate incarceration fee schedule; several per-day fee updates): approved (voice).
- Resolution 2025-6 (indigent burial fee schedule): approved (voice).
- Designation of Black Hills Pioneer as legal newspaper: approved (voice).
- Multiple personnel classification changes and effective dates (sheriff's office, emergency management, information systems, equalization, planning & zoning): approved (voice).
- Cell-phone per diem standardization (tiers of $50, $75, $104; some effective dates 12/29/2024 noted): approved (voice); one employee's stipend to be finalized later.
- Reinstatement of full-time sheriff's office positions for 2025 (list of ranks and counts): approved (voice).
- Volunteer search-and-rescue and emergency-management rosters (for insurance/work comp): approved (voice).
- Holiday observance list with amendment to include state-recognized holidays: approved 4-1.
- Numerous board and committee appointments (natural resources, fair board, planning & zoning, revolving loan fund, library board, economic development and others): approved (voice).
- Multiple plats (preliminary and final) and lot-line adjustments in Spearfish Canyon, Apple Springs/4 Birds in the Hills, David Winter parcel, North Rochford area and others: approved (motions; details recorded in planning docket).

Why it matters: These routine approvals set the county's administrative, payroll and service-delivery baseline for 2025, confirm who will represent the county on intergovernmental and advisory bodies, and clear several land-planning actions needed for private development and county compliance.

What commissioners noted: Commissioners and staff framed most items as standard year-start housekeeping: setting pay scales, designating legal and banking relationships, and updating fee schedules to match prior planning-and-zoning recommendations. One commissioner pressed for clarity on fee-language grammar and asked for documentation on per-diem tiers and fire-mitigation bonds for plats when appropriate.

The meeting closed after the routine block of agenda items and a short public-comment period.