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Fulton County commissioners reorganize leadership, approve routine 2026 resolutions and budget transfers
Summary
At their Jan. 6 meeting the Fulton County Board of Commissioners elected Joe Short president and Jon Rupp vice president for 2026, approved a set of routine resolutions including appropriations and a $436,624 transfer to the SWCD fund, authorized the county engineer to use county forces for road work and adopted a Food and Forage policy.
The Fulton County Board of Commissioners met Jan. 6 in Wauseon and reorganized its leadership for 2026, approved several routine administrative resolutions and signed off on departmental appropriations and policy items.
Joe Short was elected board president and Jon Rupp was elected vice president after motions from fellow commissioners; both organizational votes passed with full board support. The board also designated the president as the county’s official voting representative to the County Commissioners’ Association of Ohio and the vice president as alternate for 2026.
The commissioners approved multiple administrative items that are standard at the start of the year: the meeting schedule (regular sessions Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9 a.m.), adoption of the IRS mileage reimbursement rate for county travel, a published 2026 holiday schedule with observation rules, and authorization of a Purchase Order edit-list process and travel approvals.
On finances, the board approved line-item appropriation increases across several departments as listed in the resolution (including $900 for prosecutor computer software, $3,000 for sheriff phone, and $20,000 for information systems contract services). The board also approved a transfer of $436,624 into the SWCD fund; the resolution identifies the transfer amount and accounts but does not include further program detail.
The board authorized Fulton County Engineer Frank Onweller to use county employee forces ("Force Account") for maintenance, repair and construction of county roads, bridges and culverts during 2026, to administer right-of-way and ditch alteration permits, and to continue levying and distributing the $5 permissive license plate fee with 30% of those receipts directed to townships for road improvements. The motion passed 3-0.
The board accepted oversight of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU 2026-001) aimed at coordinating child abuse and neglect (CAN) interviews and investigations with Job and Family Services and community partners; the MOU’s stated goals include reducing duplicate interviews of child victims.
Commissioners also adopted a county "Food and Forage Policy" for 2026; the resolution indicates the policy text is attached to the official record. A single change to board committee assignments was recorded: Commissioner Jeff Rupp will serve on the Fulton County Economic Development Corporation (FCEDC) board.
All listed motions on the Jan. 6 agenda were recorded as approved. Where roll-call detail appears in the record, votes are reported as recorded (for example, the minutes-approval roll call shows Jon Rupp: yes; Joe Short: abstain; Jeff Rupp: yes). The meeting adjourned after completion of the listed business.
The board’s journal and the attached resolutions contain fuller line-item and statutory references; minutes and recorded tapes are maintained by the clerk’s office and are available as public record.
