At a regular meeting on Jan. 7, 2025, the Kittitas County Board of Commissioners approved a multi-item consent agenda and later directed county counsel to pursue state warrants on abatements in superior court regarding the Benson property after an executive session on potential litigation.

Consent items approved or acknowledged on the record included: a prosecutor's request to proceed with abatement on a property if voluntary compliance is not achieved; an interlocal agreement with the City of Ellensburg to provide public defense services (the city approved it at its council meeting last month); a call for sealed bids for towing services for county parking lots; approval of nine Law and Justice Council grant awards totaling $120,000 for 2025; a change to the county auditor's public hours; allocation of the consolidated lodging (hotel/motel) tax fund for 2025 totaling about $339,000; a contract with Stericycle Inc. for biohazardous medical waste disposal with pickups planned approximately six times per year for the jail; an amendment to the Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office fee schedule (including reducing FBI fingerprint fees from $13.25 to $12 and adjusting an hourly deputy cost from $63 to $89, and adding clearer fee‑waiver language); disbanding the Road Standards Review Committee following completion of updates to county road standards begun in 2017 and finalized as part of the 2023 comprehensive docket process; and approval of an ordinance adopting the 2024 annual docket amendments to the county comprehensive plan and related county code changes (12 amendments were part of the ordinance). The consent agenda was approved as amended by unanimous voice vote.

Specific financial and procedural details recorded in the meeting transcript: the Law and Justice Council awards total $120,000; the consolidated lodging tax appropriation is "just shy of $339,000" after a $3,000 calculation error was covered by the county to fully fund awards; the auditor's office hours will move to 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday–Thursday and 8:30 a.m.–3 p.m. Friday; Stericycle pickups for the jail are planned roughly six times per year; the sheriff's office requested reducing the FBI fingerprint fee to $12 (from $13.25), set an updated deputy cost rate to $89 per hour (previously $63), and revised fee‑waiver language on the schedule. Public comment was not recorded; no members of the public attended.

Following an executive session under RCW 42.30.110 to discuss potential litigation and agency enforcement actions, the board voted to "direct counsel to pursue a state of warrants on abatements in superior court regarding the Benson property." The motion was seconded and approved by voice vote; the transcript records affirmative "aye" votes and does not provide a roll-call breakdown.

Items acknowledged but lacking full detail in the transcript (for later public records): the interlocal agreement with the City of Ellensburg was described as ongoing and subject to future negotiated funding increases; the agenda identifies awards and ordinance references but the transcript provides no full list of awardees or the text of the comprehensive plan amendments in full. Where the transcript did not provide firm numbers or names, this article states those fields as "not specified."