Agenda Dispute Raises Questions About Who Sets Lincoln County Commission Meeting Topics

A procedural dispute has emerged at the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners (BOC) after none of the agenda items submitted by Commissioner Casey Miller for the Feb. 18 regular meeting were included on the agenda published by staff, while an item submitted by Commissioner Walter Chuck was scheduled for discussion. Miller submitted a Feb. 13 request asking that several topics be placed on the agenda for the meeting he is scheduled to chair under the Board’s Jan. 7 rotating-Chair motion. Those proposed items included discussion of the process for filling the current commissioner vacancy, staffing levels in the District Attorney’s Office, and other operational matters requiring Board oversight. None of those requested topics appeared on the final agenda.

The vacancy remains unfilled following the Jan. 4 passing of Commissioner Claire Hall. At a Feb. 12 special meeting, Commissioners Miller and Chuck each presented separate lists of preferred applicants to interview, but had no candidates in common. Miller proposed interviewing a limited number of candidates from each commissioner’s list in order to move the process forward in a noticed public meeting. Rather than engage with Miller’s proposal to jointly identify interview candidates in a public meeting, Chuck indicated he would defer to staff and legal counsel for next steps. Chuck instead stated he would “ask staff or ask council to look for next steps and come up with another way for going forward.”

The disagreement now centers on how meeting agendas are developed. In Lincoln County, the meeting Chair submits proposed agenda items and directs the order of business, including which items are brought forward for discussion. However, at a Jan. 14 work session addressing the vacancy process, County Counsel Kristin Yuille advised Miller that “your items of business might not be the county’s business” in reference to the Jan. 21 regular BOC meeting, which Miller was scheduled to chair and which was later canceled by staff despite his request that the vacancy process be discussed at that meeting.

Miller said in a Feb. 7 video update on the vacancy process that “I have repeatedly asked that we get together in public session and discuss and have a shared agreement about what exactly we are doing.” As of publication, staff have not publicly provided a reason why none of Miller’s Feb. 13 requested agenda items—including discussion of District Attorney staffing levels—were included for the Feb. 18 meeting he is scheduled to chair. The Feb. 18 meeting will begin at 10 a.m. in Room 108 at the County Courthouse. It will also be live-streamed via Zoom (signup here), and available for viewing afterward on the county’s Agendas and Meetings page or on YouTube.