Cochise County supervisors weigh formal rules, county administrator role and limits on attorney contact

Supervisor Tom Crosby, vice chair of the Cochise County Board of Supervisors, opened a Feb. 20 work session in Bisbee by urging the board to adopt a formal, written set of rules of order and to reconsider the county’s organizational chart and the county administrator role.

Crosby said the county should explore adopting a short parliamentary guide and a rules document modeled on legislative rules so the board has a clear mechanism for enforcing order and for disciplining or temporarily removing a chair who does not follow those rules. "I don't want a county administrator position to exist anymore because that was the cause of all the problems," Crosby said during his presentation.

Why it matters: Supervisors said clearer, written rules could reduce internal disputes and make meetings more transparent for the public. The board discussed several related governance items together: formal rules of order, the county organizational chart (including titles and reporting lines), limits on how board staff interact with the county attorney’s office, and practical enforcement mechanisms if a presiding chair is perceived as…