Martin County Commissioner, District 2

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]

What has changed in this job lately

Changes in the law the next officeholder will work under, most distant first.

1. 2023

   Under Senate Enrolled Act 4, the Health First Indiana public health fund required counties to opt in; Huntington County's commissioners, for example, voted to opt in in June 2023, and 86 counties covering about 96% of Hoosiers received funding while Whitley, Wells, Fountain, Johnson, Crawford and Harrison counties did not opt in ^{[17, 18]}.

2. 2023

   State law gave counties with 185,000 to 300,000 residents until September 1, 2023, to opt in to electing commissioners from three single-member districts with a nine-member council elected entirely by district ^{[15, 8, 19, 16]}.

3. 2025

   Commissioners in several counties faced data center rezoning requests; in Kosciusko County, commissioners did not approve a rezoning for a proposed Prologis data center after opposition from residents, and the Indianapolis Business Journal reported that a 2019 state law offers qualified data center operators tax breaks of up to 50 years ^[14].

4. April 15, 2025

   Gov. Mike Braun signed Senate Enrolled Act 1, a property tax law he called historic tax relief; Rep. Greg Porter (D-Indianapolis) said it would cost local governments and schools up to $1.8 billion over three years, and the law also gives local governments new income tax tools ^[20].

5. March 12, 2026

   House Enrolled Act 1210 delayed SEA 1's local income tax overhaul by one year, so current county income tax ordinances now expire January 1, 2029, and it lets counties create a Municipal Unit Strategic Taskforce of county and city representatives to negotiate how income tax revenue is shared ^{[21, 22]}.

Martin 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: $-239,630 (LSA)
• MUST taskforce (LIT distribution talks): none found
• wheel tax: adopted
• fiscal consultant named in records: FSG

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

• Martin County (county seat Shoals) has a three-member board of commissioners that serves as both the executive and legislative branch of county government, handling bids, claims, ordinances, county property and the highway garage ^[39]. District 2 covers Mitcheltree, North Center and South Center townships, including West Shoals ^[39].
• Incumbent Paul R. George (R) is seeking re-election against Democrat John R Collins ^[12]. Sources reviewed for this profile did not say whether voters countywide or only District 2 voters elect this seat.
• Main issues in 2025–2026 county minutes: the new wheel tax and excise surtax adopted in August 2025 for roads and bridges ^[30]; a planned, then abandoned, privatization of the county ambulance service ^{[31, 34]}; jail and dispatch staffing ^[28]; and long-running bridge projects and repair claims ^{[27, 38]}.
• The council also created a 0.2% local income tax rate for emergency medical services in August 2025 by shifting part of the economic development rate, which county officials described as a redistribution, not an increase ^[30].
• No primary results, debates, forums or news coverage of this race were found as of October 11, 2026.

Who holds this seat now

Paul R. George (Republican) — not on this ballot.

Paul R. George holds the District 2 seat and is president of the three-member Martin County Board of Commissioners; his current term runs January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2026 ^[23]. County minutes show him serving as board president as early as March 2014 ^[24]. He is on the November ballot as the Republican nominee ^[12].

George's record in the job

• March 2014: Minutes list him as president of the board of commissioners ^[24].
• January 2024: In a discussion of road-grant matching money, he noted that counties without a wheel tax often have casino taxes or other revenue, and said a wheel tax would generate about $252,000 a year ^[25].
• April 2024: Said "no one likes taxes, but when there is no money available to fix the roads, we need all the help we can get," and called a wheel tax "a fair tax" because vehicle owners pay to drive on the roads ^[26].
• October 2024: Noted the county's share of the Brickyard Bridge (bridge #58) project had grown from a little over $200,000 to $750,000 ^[27].
• January 2025: Said the commissioners wanted to add a jail position, a dispatcher position and more part-time money for jail staffing, subject to council approval; on plans for former recycling-center and bank buildings, said the board was "not wanting to raise taxes or get a bond" and was saving money for remodeling ^[28].
• June 24, 2025: The commissioners voted unanimously to recommend that the county council consider a wheel tax after state changes to Community Crossings road grants; George commented that it was the state pushing counties to adopt the tax ^[29]. The council adopted a $40 excise surtax and $80 wheel tax on Aug. 11, 2025 ^[30].
• September–December 2025: The board sought proposals to contract out the county ambulance service and negotiated with Patriot Ambulance Service, citing a cost of $963,000 versus $1.5 million in the Daviess Community Hospital proposal ^{[31, 32]}. Resident Jenny Dearwester questioned the bidding process and whether the county ambulance director helped write the specifications; George responded that the board wanted the same kind of coverage and that both bidders would have been offered county-owned equipment ^[33].
• February 17, 2026: Announced that Patriot had withdrawn its proposal, that the county would keep operating the ambulance service with current staff, and that the board would take no further privatization action at that time ^[34].
• January 2026: Re-elected board president; said the board and highway superintendent were building district-based road priority lists for new wheel tax revenue, which he said is restricted to roads and bridges ^[35].
• July 2026: Listed roads scheduled for wheel-tax-funded work, including Tedrow Lane, Gibson, Wininger, Bear Hill (hills), Hart and Dover Hill Gate roads, with Boyd Hollow Road funded separately through Community Crossings ^[36].
• August 4, 2026: Said he was not ready to move forward with a proposed county burn ordinance, citing concern that it might be too restrictive; the board tabled it ^[37].
• 2024–2026: Repeatedly pressed the county attorney on recovering repair costs for damaged bridge #44 from a driver's insurer; in March 2026 he noted more than three years had passed without resolution ^{[35, 38]}.

Candidates on the ballot

Key points

• Main issues in 2025–2026 county minutes: the new wheel tax and excise surtax adopted in August 2025 for roads and bridges; a planned, then abandoned, privatization of the county ambulance service; jail and dispatch staffing; and long-running bridge projects and repair claims. (Martin County Council)
• The council adopted a wheel tax and vehicle excise surtax at its Aug. 11, 2025 hearing, effective 2026, citing Community Crossings changes. Community Crossings awards fell from $1.11 million (2025) to $606,486 (FY2026). (in.gov)

  Worth asking: Vehicle owners began paying the new wheel tax and excise surtax in 2026. How will the council report what that money fixes each year, including the 8 of 104 bridges rated poor?

• Martin County government adopted a $15.1 million budget for 2026, about $1,528 per resident; that is +23.0% compared with 2023. (Indiana Gateway for Government Units)

Sources