During Monday’s Labette County Commission Meeting, a new chair and vice chair were selected. Tom Barrett will serve as the chair of the board, with Terry Weidert to serve as vice chair for the 2026 calendar year.
In other annual business, the county holidays were approved, which will include Good Friday. The county newspaper, county depositories, and a gap waiver were approved.
During Monday’s meeting, a burn ban was lifted, and discussion was had on how to swiftly enact and lift burn bans. It was decided that a special meeting would be called if Emergency Manager Charles Morse felt a burn ban should be enacted, and that information will be distributed to the public through the Labette County Emergency Management Facebook page and published as soon as possible in the newspaper as required by law.
Morse said emergent burn bans would be needed on red flag days, and during the windy spring.
Yesterday, Thursday morning, in a special meeting, a burn ban was put back into place due to the possibility of extreme fire danger over the next few days.
In other business, the commission heard an update from the recovery court, from Judge Kurtis Loy. This was Loy’s first meeting with the commissioners.
“We’re staying buy and spending your dollars wisely,” Loy said.
He noted that the 11th judicial district is the sixth busiest district in the state, and the busiest district outside of a metropolitan area. The district includes Labette, Cherokee and Crawford counties.
He highlighted a new public defender’s office, which began work in July, with four new attorneys. Loy said the first recovery court graduation was held in December, with the next graduation planned for April.
He noted that the greatest costs of the program included treatment costs and transportation. The program lasts 18 months and has five phases.
“All of the graduates had sobriety for 12 months, had a job, had a driver’s license, had a motor vehicle, and were back as a meaningful contributor to the community where they reside,” Loy said.
See COMMISSION, Page 9.
Two of the graduates were from Labette County.
“I think recovery court is an excellent way to attack these problems,” Barrett said.
Public Works Director Sandy Krider requested approval to apply for grants to improve Bridges 440 and 109, declare surplus property, and approve a sign bid. These were all approved.
A bid for new road signs and poles from Newman Signs Inc. was approved for $30,372.57 The Labette County Commission regularly meets on Monday at 9 a.m. at the Labette County Courthouse in Oswego
