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Kingsbury County adopts ordinance giving emergency manager and chair authority to lift burn bans after local chief input
Summary
The Kingsbury County Board adopted Ordinance No. 76 on May 5, 2026, amending its burn-ban ordinance to allow the Office of Emergency Management and the board chairman to jointly lift a ban after consulting local fire chiefs; the ordinance takes effect 20 days after publication.
The Kingsbury County Board of Commissioners on May 5 adopted Ordinance No. 76, which amends Ordinance No. 72 to clarify when a county-declared burn ban may be lifted. Auditor Echo Steffensen read the ordinance text during the meeting before the board voted unanimously by roll call to adopt it.
Under the amended language, the county’s Office of Emergency Management and the chairman of the Board of County Commissioners must jointly approve removal of a burn ban, and input will be gathered from local fire chiefs about current conditions, available resources and safety considerations before lifting the ban. The ordinance specifies it will take effect 20 days after publication.
Motion and vote details: the motion to accept and adopt Ordinance 76 was made by Commissioner Troy Nelson and seconded by Commissioner Steve Spilde; the roll call vote recorded Lee—aye, Spilde—aye, Walls—aye, Lundquist—aye and Nelson—aye. No amendments to the ordinance were recorded on the floor.
The adoption formalizes local procedure for rescinding burn restrictions and ties the decision to both emergency management assessment and fire chief input. The board provided no additional conditions on publishing or implementation at the May 5 meeting.
