Marshall 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]

Marshall 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: $-1,216,380 (LSA)
• MUST taskforce (LIT distribution talks): scheduled
• wheel tax: discussed
• fiscal consultant named in records: Cender Dalton

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

• County commissioners in Marshall County are elected countywide to four-year terms; the District 1 seat appears on every precinct's ballot ^{[25, 26]}. This is not an open seat: Klotz, first elected in 2018, is seeking re-election ^{[23, 26]}.
• Klotz was unopposed in the May 5, 2026 Republican primary. No Democrat filed for the primary; Emanuel Reese is the Democratic nominee on the November ballot ^{[26, 12]}.
• In 2022 Klotz defeated Democrat Jason Haines 8,901 (70.50%) to 3,724 ^[24].
• Marshall County (county seat: Plymouth) has a three-member Board of Commissioners, the county's executive body, and a seven-member County Council, its fiscal body; four council members are elected by district and three at large, all to four-year terms ^{[25, 32]}.
• Taxes: The county's 0.25% local income tax for the jail bond ends with the bond's payoff in 2027. On Sept. 14, 2026 the council voted 7-0 on second reading for Ordinance 2026-14, which keeps the total local income tax rate at 1.25% and redirects 0.20% to jail operations and 0.05% to public safety; the county's financial adviser said this was not a tax increase ^{[33, 34]}. In August 2026 Council President Tim Harman presented a worst-case 2027 General Fund deficit of $7,077,419 without the jail income tax or the sewer bond payoff ^[35].
• Budget: The 2027 budget request heard Sept. 14, 2026 totals $46,243,859 ($19,444,749 General Fund); the council cut many lines, approved an $0.87-an-hour raise for full-time employees other than merit officers and a $2.40-an-hour raise for merit officers, and scheduled adoption for Oct. 12, 2026 ^{[34, 36]}. The 2026 budget, adopted Oct. 16, 2025, totaled $42,482,519 ^[37].
• Energy and data centers: After a two-year moratorium adopted in early 2025, the commissioners in April–May 2026 passed zoning amendments on battery storage, farm-scale solar, data centers and carbon capture; county minutes describe the solar and data-center proposals as prohibitions ^{[27, 38, 29, 30]}. Tamarack Solar's appeal of a Board of Zoning Appeals denial was pending in Allen County court in 2026 ^[39].
• Flock license-plate cameras: The commissioners voted Aug. 17, 2026 to move to an annual contract and give notice of non-renewal; the county attorney later found a 2023 five-year amendment ^{[31, 40, 41]}. On Sept. 14, 2026 the council voted 4-3 to remove funding for Flock and similar surveillance technology without specific council approval ^[34].
• Other 2025–2026 issues in the minutes include the dissolution of the Marshall County Regional Sewer District (ordered by IDEM in late 2025) and road paving and Community Crossings matches ^{[27, 34]}.
• No candidate forum or debate for this race was found in the sources reviewed.

Candidates on the ballot

Key points

• Taxes: The county's 0.25% local income tax for the jail bond ends with the bond's payoff in 2027. (Marshall County Council)
• The county's adviser presented a wheel tax/excise surtax overview on May 11, 2026; no adoption was found. Marshall was not on the BMV list behind the June 2026 lane-mile distribution, which went to 67 counties with both taxes and an approved asset plan. (co.marshall.in.us)
• Marshall County government adopted a $38.7 million budget for 2026, about $832 per resident; that is +5.0% compared with 2023. (Indiana Gateway for Government Units)

Sources