Jerome County | minutes | meeting 2026-10-05 | Commissioner Meeting
source: https://www.jeromecountyid.us/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_10052026-1714

Monday, October 5, 2026
Page 1 of 4
JEROME COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Monday, October 5, 2026
PRESENT: Ben Crouch, Chairman
       Charles Howell, Vice Chairman
       Art Watkins, Commissioner
       Ryan Treanor, Deputy Clerk
Meeting convened at 9:00 am.
Commissioner Reports
Commissioner Watkins – Commissioner Watkins reported that he attended the rotary meeting. 
There was a presentation from the Idaho C3 non-profit organization. Then he spoke with some 
constituents regarding the road to Caldron Linn. He also attended the DUI graduation.
Commissioner Howell – Commissioner Howell reported that he attended the 4H banquet. He 
stated that it was very well attended. Then he attended the Mid Snake River water meeting. He 
also attended the Southern Idaho Solid Waste meeting. There will be construction starting this 
month at the Jerome County transfer station. Then he helped with signing papers for SIRCOMM.
Later he did an interview on the radio and discussed items relating to Jerome County. He also 
attended the DUI graduation.
Commissioner Crouch – Commissioner Crouch reported that he attended the rotary meeting.
Fairgrounds Maintenance Position Discussion
Staff present: Amanda Worthington and Jesse Vallez
Public present: Amy Smith, Jeri Ahrens, Chris Dunn, and Chris Dugan
The Board wanted to discuss whether the discussion needs to go into executive session or not. 
Amanda stated that the discussion is for whether or not to have an employee hired to a full time 
position. The Board discussed that there is not really anything to lead the discussion to be done 
in executive session as it doesn’t relate to personnel issues. There were some other items that 
needed to be discussed regarding the process of hiring the employee from part time to full time. 
There was a discussion about whether the fair board had decided to hire the employee or not. The
fair board had not decided on the hiring and then a special meeting was held to discuss this 
position. During the meeting there was approval to go forward with hiring this individual. 
Amanda stated that there should be some clarification that the meeting was not an emergency 
one but a special meeting that led to the discussion and approval of this hiring.
The Board discussed that there are some issues with this hiring since the individual being hired is
Amanda’s father. The Board wanted to discuss that if the employees for the fairgrounds are paid 
out of county funds, use county insurance, county HR resources, and follow the county employee
handbook, that there is strong wording to not allow these types of hiring due to nepotism. 
Commissioner Crouch stated that if this is the process that is being followed then he would be 
strongly against this route. Commissioner Howell pointed out that legal counsel had been

Monday, October 5, 2026
Page 2 of 4
received for this issue. The legal counsel stated that there is not anything specifically wrong with
this. With the fair board being a separate entity from the county it would be up to them on 
whether or not to proceed with the hiring. He stated that if the hiring is being pushed for by 
Amanda that is not look good, but if the fair board themselves is interested in hiring this person 
that it changes things a little bit. He stated that either way it will still not look good for Amanda. 
Commissioner Watkins stated that he would want to see what the handbook states on the rules 
regarding nepotism and go from there.
GIS Monthly Report
Staff present: Mark Reyes
Mark provided some updates on the Snake River Canyon Parks. He has been working with them 
on some trails along the canyon. There were discussions regarding the safety of those trails and 
how it could be improved.
He then gave a report on the GIS department. He has continued to work on scanning in new 
survey plat maps and corner perpetuations that have been recorded. Another item he worked on 
was to update the labeling of all the maps that have been scanned in to be able to find them 
easier. He met with Kirsten Hartley regarding a solution for software for her department. He 
went to the fire extinguisher training that was held by the county.
Ferno Power FlexX Gurney Purchase
Commissioner Crouch moved to approve the purchase of the Ferno Power FlexX
Gurney for the coroner’s office to come out of last fiscal year’s budget. Seconded 
by Commissioner Watkins. The motion passed with a unanimous vote.
IT Purchases
Staff present: Matthew McGregor and Barry Biesen
Matthew stated that he has brought in some items for approval to purchase. The first is a laptop 
for HR to be used at the sheriff’s office. The other items are to complete the computer station 
sheriff’s office including a scanner and other cables. Thet total of all items is $2,259.65.
Commissioner Crouch moved to approve the expenditure of approximately  to
expand the HR computer office components at the Sherrif’s office. Seconded by 
Commissioner Howell. The motion passed with a unanimous vote.
Matthew also wanted to provide an update on the CPF grant. He has continued to send in receipts
for the grant match. With the receipts that have been sent in he received confirmation that it 
fulfills a section of the grant regarding the data center buildout. He also discussed that Amazon 
has reached out to him regarding the county accounts and to make sure that all of the accounts 
are being monitored by one person instead of having multiple accounts.

Monday, October 5, 2026
Page 3 of 4
Meeting recessed at 11:16 am.
Meeting reconvened at 2:29 pm.
Executive Session Per Idaho Code 74-206(1)(b) for Personnel
Staff present: Jesse Vallez, Sam Beus, Mike Seib, Marty Luhr, and Brandon Buckway
Commissioner Crouch moved to go into executive session per Idaho Code 74-
206(1)(b) for personnel. Seconded by Commissioner Watkins. The motion 
passed with a unanimous roll call vote.
Executive session started at 2:31 pm and ended at 4:19 pm.
No motions were made during executive session.
Read and Approve Minutes
Commissioner Howell moved to approve the minutes. Seconded by 
Commissioner Watkins. The motion passed with a unanimous vote.
Sign and Approve Claims
Commissioner Crouch moved to approve the claims as presented by staff. 
Seconded by Commissioner Howell. The motion passed with a unanimous vote.
To see an image of the report please see page 6 of the minutes.
Meeting adjourned at 4:24 pm.
________________________
______________________________
Ryan Treanor, Deputy Clerk
A. Ben Crouch, Chairman
______________________________
Charles M. Howell, Commissioner
______________________________
Art Watkins, Commissioner

BUDGET TOTALS
DEPARTMENT

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CORONER

DATA PROCESSING

BUILDING & GROUNDS MAINT.
MERGENCY MANAGEMENT

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PAYROLL ACCT PAY GRAND TOTAL

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900.00
795.00

741.00
240.83

900.00
795.00
741.00
240.83

43,586.83 |$ 43,586.83

ELECTIONS
CHARITY
GENERAL

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3,007.31 3,007.31

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VETERANS

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ADULT PROBATION
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ELECTION CONSOLIDATION

436.02
3,503.00

436.02
3,503.00

$ 305.00 | $ 305.00
$ 113,.484.50]$ 113,484.50
$ - $ 117,728.52 |$ 117,728.52

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AMBULANCE

l$ 192,769501$ 192,769.50

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$ - |$ 359,768.99

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