Codington County commissioners approve event liquor sale, two plats and personnel moves; discuss pre‑trial case manager

Codington County Board of Commissioners met at 9:00 a.m. on May 5, 2026, in Watertown and approved a set of routine local actions while taking reports from county staff and discussing a proposal to create a pre‑trial case manager position.

The board unanimously approved a request from Michelle Mack to sell alcohol at her daughter Autumn Mac’s wedding on August 22, conditional on a liquor‑license transfer. “My name is Michelle Mack and I am here to request to sell alcohol for my daughter Autumn Mac's wedding on August 22nd,” Mack told commissioners, saying Cloud9 would transfer its license and provide staff for the event.

Land use approvals included two plats presented by county planner Luke Mueller. The first, Plat 2026‑08 (Gardener edition), combines two parcels and required a variance because one was an older non‑conforming lot; Mueller said the resulting parcel is about five acres. The second, Plat 2026‑09 (CN Zubkkey edition), creates a discrete lot primarily for financing purposes and was approved with a condition that it be used for egg‑farmland purposes because it lacks an associated farmstead. Both plats carried after motions and voice votes.

Clerk staff presented four malt‑beverage license renewals — Rooster Bar (David Blueornne d/b/a), South Fork Lounge (WJ Schmidt Enterprise Inc.), Dakota Sue Casino (Sistan Waffleton Sue Tribe) and Joy Ranch of South Dakota (Joyce C. Nelson) — and the sheriff reported no objections; the board approved all four renewals in a single motion.

Personnel actions approved included the seasonal rehire of John Engles as assistant weed supervisor and conversion of Zachary Darus in the auditor’s office from part‑time to full‑time at his current hourly rate; commissioners noted the county will assume benefit costs for the full‑time position.

Staff reports: 4‑H educator Jody Lair said the state shooting competition drew 53 youth — about double last year — and listed upcoming skillathons and clinics. “The state 4‑H shoot was held two weekends in April with 53 youth, which is almost double from last year,” Lair said. Veteran Service Officer Jay Roberts reported office metrics, stating, “we have 133 open claims, 53 are pending, and 112 are completed year‑to‑date,” and described outreach events and volunteer‑driver recruitment. Emergency Manager Andrew Delgado summarized recent trainings and exercises, including township crisis‑track training and two weather‑spotter classes that he said drew 84 participants.

On old business, a commissioner outlined a plan to use funds from the county’s court‑appointed attorney budget to hire a pre‑trial case manager to handle routine defendant contacts and administrative tasks. The speaker argued that shifting routine communications to a case manager could reduce billable attorney hours and overall costs; the board asked staff to draft a job description for review and possible posting next week so the position could later be incorporated into a public defender office if one is established.

Other routine items approved included travel requests for county staff to attend an equipment rodeo and training. There were no public comments during the meeting. The board adjourned after a motion by Commissioner Johnson and a second by Commissioner Melhaney.

The board is expected to revisit the pre‑trial case manager proposal at an upcoming meeting if a job description is ready.