Dunn County will now have a larger county commission, its people will continue voting at-large and the commission will soon decide who to appoint for the two additional positions.
Andy Schmidt and Ray Kadrmas of Dunn County petitioned to get the question of increasing the commission from three members to five put on the June 8 ballot, according to a previous Dickinson Press article.
Schmidt and Kadrmas said they want more commissioners because of increased activity in the county.
Reinhard Hauck, Dunn County auditor, said it would cost the county about $78,800 a year to add two commissioners to the board. He added the money would come from the county's general fund.
A meeting of the Dunn County Commission is slated to be held Wednesday to discuss how the commission should proceed, Hauck said.
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"The law requires us to do it within 10 days following the completion of the official canvass, and we will be canvassing the election tomorrow (Friday)," Hauck said. "Next week the board's going to meet as a board of county commissioners to discuss their course of action. We have to meet with our state's attorney and make sure we do everything legally."
Hauck said the board -- which will appoint two new people to the commission to serve until the November election -- is comprised of the county commission, one district court judge and the county auditor.
He was unsure when that board would meet.
"We have 10 working days to get this accomplished and that clock starts ticking on Monday, the 14th," Hauck said. "There would be no restrictions as far as who they would want to appoint (to the commission)."
The issue of voting at-large was added to the ballot by law, said Ross Sundeen, Dunn County state's attorney. It asked whether commissioners should continue to be elected at-large or whether the county should break into five districts.
Seven candidates competed for two at-large openings on the county commission, with newcomer Donna Scott and Daryl Dukart bringing in 369 and 355 votes respectively. Dukart and Scott will continue on to the general election in November.
Dukart said he feels having a five-member board will allow the commission to work more efficiently, with more opinions being shared.
The meeting of the county commissioners will be held Wednesday at 10 a.m. at the Dunn County Courthouse in Manning.
