Here are the formal actions taken by the Harney County Court on Jan. 7, 2026. Each item below reflects motions and voice votes recorded in the public session.

Agenda and minutes
- Approved the meeting agenda as presented (voice vote).
- Approved meeting minutes from Dec. 17, 2025 (voice vote).

Appointments and administrative orders
- Appointed William Hart, County Judge, as county budget officer for fiscal year 2026–27 (court order approved by voice vote).
- Designated the Burns Times-Herald as the official county newspaper for 2026 (court order approved).
- Appointed Dr. Sarah Leosah (listed in packet as Sarah Leosah / Laossa in the record) as county health officer for 2026 (court order approved).
- Appointed Dr. Timothy Teslov as district medical examiner for 2026 (court order approved).
- Adopted court order appointing Justice of the Peace pro tempore appointees (Judge Richard A. Tirico and John Lambourne) for 2026.

Board appointments
- Appointed Caitlin White to the Harney County Fair Board for a three-year term (motion carried by voice vote).
- Confirmed appointment to the Harney County budget board by resolution 2026-03, adding Douglas (Douglas Fir in the resolution text) as a member (court adopted resolution 2026-03).

Budget and grant appropriations
- Adopted resolution 2026-01 to appropriate an unexpected $150,000 award to the district attorney’s behavioral health deflection program; the resolution restated general fund totals and increased personal services by $63,000 and materials & supplies by $87,000 to reflect the grant. (Staff noted this is a two-year award, roughly $75,000 per year.)
- Adopted resolution 2026-02 to amend prior appropriations for the fair fund after receiving additional lottery funds; capital outlay increased by $25,000 (new category total $436,624).
- Adopted resolution 2026-05 transferring $33,000 from contingency to materials & supplies in the general fund to cover unexpected facility and security costs.

Regional policy and advocacy
- Adopted a joint resolution (Harney County resolution 2025-37, Burns/Paiute Tribe/City of Burns/City of Hines) committing jurisdictions in the Harney Basin to cooperative water-management coordination and scientific and traditional-knowledge integration (motion carried by voice vote).
- Approved by voice vote sending a letter to U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden urging support for delisting gray wolves in Oregon and federal legislation (the Safe Pets and Livestock Act) to permit state-level implementation of wolf policy.

Next steps
- The court scheduled an executive session for Jan. 8 at 3:00 p.m. to receive legal advice tied to the Stancliff Lane culvert discussion and asked staff to prepare draft landowner agreements where appropriate.

The court recorded each action as approved by voice vote unless otherwise stated and will publish formal resolutions and court orders in the county record.