At an organizational meeting, the Dickenson County Board of Supervisors elected Supervisor Richard Thacker as chair and Supervisor Shelby Willis as vice chair, approved the board’s meeting calendar for 2025 and adopted a fiscal year 2026 budget schedule with one scheduling change.

The leadership votes set the board’s officers for the year and established the timeline the county will use to prepare its FY-26 budget. The board also voted to continue following Robert’s Rules of Order and to retain the board rules and procedures adopted at the January 2024 organization meeting.

Supervisor Richard Thacker received a majority in the roll-call vote for chair. The clerk recorded the vote as: Rhonda Sluss — No; Richard Thacker — Yes; Shelby Willis — Yes; Peggy Kiser — No; Hall — Yes. The tally was three yes, two no; the motion carried and Thacker was declared chair for 2025.

Supervisor Shelby Willis was elected vice chair after nominations and a subsequent vote. Board members also confirmed the board will continue to use Robert’s Rules of Order for its proceedings and indicated there are no recommended changes to the board rules and procedures that were adopted in January 2024.

The board adopted its regular meeting schedule for 2025, which retains meetings on the fourth Tuesday of each month at 6:00 p.m. with two adjustments already reflected in the calendar: the January meeting is moved to Tuesday, Jan. 21 (the third Tuesday) because the board will be traveling on the fourth week, and November and December meetings are scheduled for the third Tuesday to avoid holiday conflicts.

County staff presented a proposed FY-26 budget calendar that the board approved with one change: the two departmental budget meeting days originally scheduled for April 8–9 were kept, and a separate budget workshop date that had been proposed for April 15 was moved to Monday, April 14, to avoid a conflict with a standing PSA meeting. Key dates on the adopted calendar include a department budget request cutoff of Friday, Feb. 14; a workshop on March 4 (10 a.m.–3 p.m.); departmental meetings April 8–9; a workshop on April 15; a public hearing on tax levies at the April 22 regular meeting with the second public hearing set for June 3; a final workshop on May 6; budget advertising on May 21 and May 28; the public hearing on the advertised budget on June 3; and final budget approval at the regular meeting on June 24.

Other procedural actions taken by voice vote included approval of the meeting agenda as presented and a motion to adjourn at the meeting’s close.

The board identified county staff present at the meeting, including Teresa Lyle, clerk; Larry Barton, county administrator; Adam Mullins, information technology; and Casey Newsome, deputy director of finance, who presented the proposed budget schedule. The meeting was then turned over to the newly elected chair to continue business.