Floyd County Commissioner, District 1

What this office does

In 91 of Indiana's 92 counties, a three-member board of commissioners is the county executive and conducts the county's business in the board's name ^{[1, 2]}. Commissioners administer county government affairs that state law does not assign to a separately elected officer, while the county council, a separate elected body, controls budgets, tax rates and salaries ^{[2, 3, 4]}. Marion County is the exception: under the consolidated Indianapolis–Marion County government (Unigov), the mayor holds most executive power, and the elected county assessor, auditor and treasurer serve as the county commissioners, with duties that mostly concern county finances ^{[5, 2, 6]}.

The job in full — the duties the Indiana Code puts in it, the term, what it pays and who sets that, and what to ask a candidate.

Term

4 years, starting January 1 after the election; seats are staggered, so one or two of the three seats are filled at each general election ^[7]

Elected

On the partisan general-election ballot; each commissioner represents a district and must live in it, but in every county except Lake and St. Joseph the whole county votes on every commissioner seat; in Lake and St. Joseph counties only the district's voters choose ^{[8, 9]}

Term limit

None stated; the statute that sets the four-year term does not limit how many terms a commissioner may serve ^[7]

Qualifications

Must have lived in the county at least one year and in the commissioner district at least six months before the election, and be registered to vote in the election district; a county employee who is elected must leave that county job on taking office ^{[10, 9]}

Pay

Set locally: the county council fixes the compensation of county officers in its annual salary ordinance ^{[4, 11]}

On the 2026 ballot

94 races; 41 contested ^[12]

Floyd County's numbers for this office

Legal Insights county office research (Oct. 13, 2026): Indiana Gateway budgets 2019-2026 and the indicator sources linked on each line.

• In most counties this department also holds countywide costs such as group and liability insurance, contracts and some capital projects. It is the department total, not the cost of the board of commissioners.

Also on the record for this office

• SEA 1 estimated county-unit revenue change in 2028 vs prior law: $-1,276,250 (LSA)
• MUST taskforce (LIT distribution talks): none found
• wheel tax: none found
• fiscal consultant named in records: Baker Tilly

Measured, for this county

A position compares this county with counties of similar size. It is not a grade: for most measures a higher or lower number is neither good nor bad on its own.

About this race

• Floyd County (county seat: New Albany) has three commissioners. District 1 covers New Albany; District 2 covers Greenville and Lafayette townships; District 3 covers Georgetown and Franklin townships ^[23].
• Voters across the county can vote in each commissioner race, although each seat is tied to a district ^{[32, 31]}.
• This is not an open seat: incumbent Republican Al Knable faces Democrat Ellen Morrison Kelley ^{[33, 25, 12]}.
• Primary: LPM's March 2026 preview listed five contested Republican primaries in Floyd County, and the commissioner race was not one of them ^[34]. Both candidates were their party's nominees by July 2026 ^[25]. Primary vote totals were not reviewed.
• Ballot error: In the first days of early voting in October 2026, the District 1 commissioner race was left off ballots in Franklin, Greenville, Georgetown and Lafayette townships. The county election board identified 572 affected voters. They will receive a form to request a new ballot, and those first-day ballots will be counted separately ^[31]. Kelley said, "Deep in my soul, I still trust elections" ^[31]. Knable said the mistake should have been caught before early voting began ^[32].
• Issues for the office: emergency medical services (the move to a fire-territory EMS model in 2027 and its cost to Greenville and Lafayette townships) ^[29]; the future of the City-County Building ^[27]; and roads and bridges, including the Blackiston Mill bridge ^[30].
• No 2026 candidate forum or debate for this race was found in sources reviewed.

Candidates on the ballot

Key points

• Floyd County (county seat: New Albany) has three commissioners. District 1 covers New Albany; District 2 covers Greenville and Lafayette townships; District 3 covers Georgetown and Franklin townships. (Floyd County, Indiana)
• New Albany's council passed a one-year data center moratorium unanimously on final reading (July 16, 2026). No county data center action was found; regional build-out near Meta's River Ridge campus in Clark County was cited as a concern. (newsandtribune.com)
• Floyd County government adopted a $72.5 million budget for 2026, about $882 per resident; that is +73.0% compared with 2023. (Indiana Gateway for Government Units)

Sources