Commissioners postpone Lifeways board appointments; request statutory clarification on board membership criteria

Jackson County commissioners voted to postpone appointments to the Lifeways board to allow more time for review and for staff to research board membership criteria.

At the meeting a commissioner expressed concern that six of seven Lifeways appointees appeared to be current service recipients and said that represented a conflict of interest if those individuals would be determining how Lifeways funds are spent. The commissioner asked which policy requires appointees to be Lifeways clients and requested the county administrator return with the originating policy or statute for the record before the next meeting.

Chairman Ray Shotwell answered that state statute requires certain Lifeways board members to be primary or secondary recipients of services under state mental-health policy and that the Lifeways board’s membership composition has been established under that authority. Commissioners asked staff to provide a copy of the relevant statute for review; the administrator agreed to provide the statute.

By motion, the committee postponed action on the appointments and will revisit the matter at the next meeting after staff provides the requested documentation.

Ending — The appointments matter is postponed pending staff-provided statutory/bylaw documentation about Lifeways board membership criteria.