Codington County Commissioners Approve 2026 Election Precinct Consolidation, $1.07M in Claims

Northeast Radio SD News – Watertown, SD - The Codington County Commissioners approved precinct consolidations for the 2026 General Election, authorized more than $1 million in net county claims, and processed routine monthly financial reports during Tuesday’s meeting.

Election Precinct Consolidation Approved

County Auditor Brenda Hanten presented Resolution 2026-24, which combines several voting precincts across Codington County for the upcoming November general election to streamline operations and curb administrative costs.

Hanten explained that the decision was based on analyzing historical voter turnout across precincts, noting specific combinations such as merging the Dexter precinct with Fuller/Florence.

“Most generally, when there’s a commissioner race, we have to separate them because they’re two different districts,” Hanten said regarding the combined polling locations. “So just trying to be a cost savings to the county and streamline this process. And we’ll see how this goes.”

Additional precinct merges include combining Precinct B2 into B3, as well as D2 into C2. The board approved Resolution 2026-24 following a motion by Commissioner Myron Johnson and a second by Commissioner Lee Gabel.

County Claims and Emergency Management Supplement

The board reviewed and approved a heavy slate of monthly claims. Gross claims totaled $1,841,730.24, which was offset by $779,756.62 in state pass-through funds. After incorporating a late-added $7,141.25 payment for the Juvenile Justice Regional Initiative (JJRI) serving the Boys & Girls Club, net county claims were approved at $1,069,114.87 on a motion by Commissioner Tyler McElhany, seconded by Gabel.

During the claims review, Hanten cautioned commissioners that the county’s court-appointed attorney budget line is nearly exhausted for the current fiscal year.

“We’re going to have to start doing some commissioner contingency, I’m afraid, after this month because we... probably won’t have enough left in there to cover that on my sheet line,” Hanten warned.

In separate action, the board unanimously approved an automatic budget supplement of $115,006.60 for Emergency Management. Hanten noted the amount was slightly adjusted from an earlier figure of $115,043.09 to correct a minor $2.44 fee discrepancy from check records. The supplement passed following a motion by Gabel and a second by Commissioner Randall Schweer.

Monthly Financial Reports and 911 Fee Transfer

Commissioners formally accepted the Auditor’s Account with Treasurer Carol Maloney for the month ending July. The report noted total ending balances across all county, school, township, municipal, custodial, and investment accounts of $45,970,889.91.

In addition, the Register of Deeds office reported collecting $46,604.90 in fees during July.

The board also authorized the monthly transfer of June 911 fees totaling $40,157.36 to the City of Watertown. Commission Chair Troy VanDusen recused himself from the discussion and vote, since he is the Supervisor of the Watertown Area 911 Dispatch. The motion to transfer funds was moved by Johnson, seconded by McElhany, and passed unanimously.

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