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Lincoln County commissioners vote to hire county administrator, revise job description
Summary
After discussing costs, duties and legal constraints, Lincoln County commissioners voted in a special meeting to hire a county administrator rather than filling the vacant county administrative assistant role; they directed staff to add grant management and budget oversight language to the administrator job description and to circulate a revised draft before posting.
The Lincoln County Board of Commissioners voted in a special meeting on June 7, 2026, to hire a county administrator rather than rehire a county administrative assistant, and directed staff to revise the proposed administrator job description to include explicit grant-management and budget-oversight duties.
The meeting opened with the chair saying the purpose was “to discuss whether to hire a county administrator versus rehiring a county administrative assistant,” following the resignation of Nikki Fox, the county’s previous administrative assistant. Commissioners and staff reviewed job descriptions and a comparative wage estimate circulated by staff member Dallas.
Commissioners described a county administrator as providing a single point of contact for department heads, improving consistency and information flow, and reducing the risk of informal, repeated transfers of duties after staff departures. One commissioner said an administrator could ease compliance with open-meeting laws by serving as an intermediary for information requests between elected officials. Another commissioner raised concerns about optics and the obligation of elected officials to perform some duties themselves.
Dallas presented the wage comparison included in the circulated materials: the administrative assistant position was listed as grade 10 with a starting wage noted in the transcript as “2519,” and the county administrator as grade 23 with a starting wage noted as “4178.” Dallas said the difference in total annual cost including benefits was $40,832. The transcript does not specify the pay period or unit (for example, monthly or hourly) for the quoted figures; the numbers are reported as presented in the meeting.
A commissioner read statutory language from MCA 7-6-420 describing the county clerk and recorder’s role in preparing and submitting the county’s preliminary annual operating budget; commissioners agreed an administrator would prepare budget documents “in conjunction with” the clerk and recorder to comply with the statute.
A motion to hire a county administrator instead of an administrative assistant was made, seconded and approved by voice vote; the transcript records the motion as carried but does not record individual votes or a numeric tally. After the motion passed, commissioners proceeded to review the proposed county administrator job description line-by-line. They agreed to add explicit language to track countywide grants, assist department heads with grant applications and management, and develop or maintain a county grant policy and database. Other duties discussed for inclusion were budget development and oversight, human-resources leadership and policy work, coordination of county activities, contract oversight, and serving as a point of contact for media and intergovernmental matters.
The board directed staff to revise the job description in the Word document used in the meeting, circulate the revised draft for comment, and then post the position. No hiring decision beyond that direction was made during the meeting; commissioners said posting and recruitment would follow once the job description is finalized.
The meeting ended with the chair asking for final comments, noting next steps to update and distribute the document, and adjourning the special meeting.
