Most Indiana voters will see county commissioner and county council races on their November ballots.
All but two of Indiana’s counties have a three-member board of commissioners and a seven-member county council. St. Joseph County, home to South Bend, has three commissioners but nine council members. Marion County and Indianapolis operate under a unified city-county government system with 25 council members and a three-member board of commissioners that includes the auditor, assessor and treasurer.
In all but Marion County, commissioners and council members split governing duties. Commissioners, elected to four-year staggered terms, are the executive and administrative governing body. All registered voters can cast ballots in each race.
The council is the fiscal body, deciding financial policy and priorities. Members are also elected to four-year staggered terms. Three are elected at-large, and four have districts. All county voters can cast ballots in at-large races. District candidates run only in their geographic area.
In the 2026 general election, voters in 91 counties will elect either one or two commissioners. They also have four council races on the ballot, except for St. Joseph County, where there are five.
What are the duties of county commissioners?
The commissioners oversee property and infrastructure, such as jails and county roads. They review and approve payments, receive bids for projects and award contracts. They have legislative powers to adopt ordinances and oversee county employees. Commissioners also appoint members to county boards, manage emergency operations and oversee economic development, solid waste programs and indigent care.
Some are full-time, and some are part-time. Compensation varies. For example, the annual salary for a commissioner in Switzerland County, which has about 10,000 residents, is about $15,000. A commissioner in St. Joseph County, population 273,000, makes about $59,000.
You can check who would be on your ballot through IndianaVoters.IN.gov or Indiana Citizen’s virtual ballot tool.
What are the duties of county council members?
The county council approves budgets for all county departments and authorizes or denies the spending of public funds. The council sets property tax rates, levies and approves bonds and money borrowing. The council establishes salaries and benefits for county employees and also authorizes land sales, leases and purchases.
Salaries for these roles also vary. For example, a county council member in Switzerland County earns about $8,000, while the same position in St. Joseph County pays about $25,000.
Some history of Indiana county government
County commissioners have existed since counties were created after Indiana became a state in 1816.
“The commissioners have always been there, since the first counties, and they served as the fiscal body as well,” said David Bottorff, executive director of the Association of Indiana Counties.
But in 1899, after concerns over commissioners’ spending on fancy courthouses and steep lawyer fees, a law created county councils to oversee spending of local tax dollars.
Bottorff said the system works, allowing voters to select four of the seven council members who oversee tax spending. And residents can vote for all of the commissioners, who live in different districts to ensure geographic diversity in representation.
“That gives me, as a voter, a lot of power,” he said. “The system is designed to guarantee a spokesman, a representative, sympathetic to all residents’ concerns.”
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FPI News reporter Laura Lane covers the people and issues of rural Indiana. Reach her at 812-760-1540 or laura.lane@fpinews.org.
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