LaGrange 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]

LaGrange 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: $-875,210 (LSA)
• MUST taskforce (LIT distribution talks): none found
• wheel tax: none found
• fiscal consultant named in records: Peters Franklin

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

• Open seat: neither ballot candidate is a sitting commissioner. Republican nominee Jeff Campos currently holds County Council District 1, and Commissioner Terry Martin is running for that council seat ^{[29, 23, 26]}.
• How the seat is elected: 2,091 votes were cast in the May 2026 Republican primary for Commissioner District 1, versus 497 in the Republican primary for County Council District 1, which indicates the commissioner seat is voted on countywide (the candidate must live in the district) ^[26]. Official confirmation of the district-residency rule was not reviewed for this profile.
• Primary: Campos won the Republican nomination with 1,279 votes (61.17%) to 812 (38.83%) for Dennis Lee Neeley; no Democrat filed for the primary ^{[26, 27]}. Tom Swihart's name was added to the Democratic line after the primary; how he was nominated was not confirmed for this profile.
• Issues before the board in 2026 include a new county highway garage financed in part with Major Moves money (a $10,344,952 appropriation request was held in March 2026 pending a joint session), a data-center moratorium and battery-storage permitting rules, school resource officers and road resurfacing grants ^{[30, 28, 24, 25, 31]}.
• No candidate forum, debate, questionnaire or campaign website for this race was found.

Candidates on the ballot

Key points

• Joint session Mar 9, 2026 (unanimous) reserved Major Moves money for the highway garage ($10,344,952) to lessen borrowing; Joint Ord. 2026-06-08 A restricts the fund. A $1,346,500 design contract followed. (lagrangecounty.org)
• LaGrange County government adopted a $45.0 million budget for 2026, about $1,090 per resident; that is +28.7% compared with 2023. (Indiana Gateway for Government Units)
• Legislative Services Agency estimate: the 2025 property tax law (SEA 1) changes the county government's net property tax levy by -8.7% versus prior law once fully in effect (2028, since delayed to 2029 by HEA 1210). (Indiana Legislative Services Agency)

Sources