Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Government Administration topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Dickinson County commissioners reappoint officials, elect Rafelson chair and Peterson vice chair
Summary
The Dickinson County Commission voted to elect Kenny Rafelson chair and Lynn Peterson vice chair, approved the annual reappointment resolution that lists county appointments, depositories and meeting rules, and adopted related housekeeping resolutions including a GAAP-waiver and participation in a student-loan repayment program.
The Dickinson County Commission on Jan. 23 elected Commissioner Kenny Rafelson as chair and Commissioner Lynn Peterson as vice chair and approved its annual reappointment resolution and two related housekeeping measures.
The actions set leadership and named or reaffirmed a range of county appointments, official depositories and administrative rules for 2025. Commissioners voted to adopt resolution No. 012325 (annual reappointments), resolution No. 012325B (waiver of certain GAAP financial statement requirements), and resolution No. 012325A (authorizing participation in a rural opportunity zone student loan repayment program). All motions carried on voice votes.
The annual reappointment resolution lists specific appointments and administrative designations for 2025, including naming John Holtgren as Dickinson County health officer; designating courthouse official hours as 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. with holidays set by the employee handbook; setting commission work sessions for Thursdays from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. and regular meetings to start at 11 a.m.; and designating the Abilene Reflector-Chronicle as the county's official newspaper for 2025. The resolution also assigns representatives: Peterson was named to represent the county on the Central Kansas Mental Health Center board and Commissioner Roller was named to the North Central Kansas Juvenile Detention Board and the North Central Regional Planning Commission board. The resolution names a list of official county depositories and directs publication of the fee schedule and payroll calendar on the county website.
Commissioners next adopted the GAAP-waiver resolution, which asks the Kansas Director of Accounts and Reports to waive requirements of KSA 75-1120a (as cited in the resolution text) for Dickinson County for the fiscal year ending Dec. 31, 2025, on the asserted grounds that those accrual-based financial statements are unnecessary for the county's cash-basis budget reporting. The board adopted the waiver on a voice vote.
Separately, the commission approved participation in a rural Opportunity Zone student loan repayment program for 2025. County staff noted the program is facilitated by the local Economic Development Corporation and the Dickinson County Community Foundation and that the county will not allocate county funds to the program.
Commissioners made the leadership changes by nomination and voice votes: a commissioner nominated Rafelson for chair, the nomination was seconded and the commission approved it; a motion to nominate Peterson for vice chair was seconded and approved.
The approvals complete routine organizational items the commission typically adopts at the start of a calendar year and establish contact points, depositories and meeting schedules for county operations in 2025.
