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Dubois County commissioners reorganize leadership, declare surplus equipment and approve appointments
Summary
At the Jan. 5 meeting commissioners elected Chad A. Blessinger president and Nickolas Hostetter vice president for 2026, approved minutes, declared highway surplus items and appointed commissioners to the Solid Waste Management District Board. The board also reviewed a phone audit and agreed to an $11,000 opioid-fund drug testing appropriation pending County Council approval.
At their Jan. 5 meeting in Jasper, the Dubois County Commissioners completed their annual reorganization and routine administrative business.
The board elected Commissioner Chad A. Blessinger as President and Commissioner Nickolas Hostetter as Vice President for 2026. Minutes from the Dec. 15, 2025 meeting were approved and signed. County Auditor Sandra L. Morton presented month-end receipts for December 2025 and reviewed a Telco Audit from Matrix Integration showing county phone charges total $800.64 per month (a per-SIP-trunk breakdown of $24.27 including services, taxes and fees); the audit recommended no changes.
Highway Superintendent Donnie Lueken and Auditor Morton presented lists of county items to be declared surplus. The minutes record that a motion to declare specified highway tools as surplus was made, seconded and carried unanimously. The commissioners also made a motion, seconded and carried unanimously to appoint the three county commissioners to the Solid Waste Management District Board for 2026, as required by Indiana Code.
Community Corrections requested using $11,000 from the restricted opioid fund for drug testing; the commissioners gave consensus to approve that request pending additional appropriation approval by the County Council. Clerk Amy Kippenbrock said she will monitor proposed House Bill 1342, which would change how commissioner districts are drawn (discussed as possibly moving from highway-mileage to population-based calculations).
A Department Head meeting was scheduled for Jan. 21, 2026, at 8:00 a.m. in the Courthouse Annex conference room; the next regular commissioners meeting is Jan. 20, 2026.
