Perry 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]

Perry 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: $-296,770 (LSA)
• MUST taskforce (LIT distribution talks): none found
• wheel tax: none found
• fiscal consultant named in records: other/in-house

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

• Incumbent Commissioner Rebecca Thorn (R) faces Teresa Kanneberg (D) ^[12]. Perry County has three commissioners (Districts 1-3); Randy Cole holds District 1 and Pam Jamniczky District 3 ^[23]. Whether District 2 is elected countywide (with a district residency requirement) or only by District 2 voters could not be confirmed from a reviewed source.
• Primary: Thorn was unopposed in the May 5, 2026 Republican primary with 549 votes; no Democrat appeared on the primary ballot for this seat ^[31]. Kanneberg appears on the state general-election list ^[12]; how she was nominated was not found.
• Budget and taxes: the Perry County Council adopted a 2026 budget of $13,663,054 by a 7-0 vote on October 9, 2025 ^[32]. The certified (Form 4) figures list a General Fund budget of $6,089,767 with a $4,136,720 levy and a proposed rate of 0.5819, and a combined proposed rate of 0.7534 for the levied funds, which the council president noted could change on state (DLGF) review ^[33]. At the September 11, 2025 budget meeting the Auditor said the advertised levy funds were $99,587 over what the county could levy and had to be reduced ^[34].
• Property taxes and SEA 1: at the June 26, 2025 council meeting member Brad Harth said the county would be in a 'belt-tightening mode due to SEA 1' ^[35]. On July 23, 2026, council president Kelli Harding said that with 2027 revenue estimates not yet known, private groups would not be invited to present 2027 budget requests until department requests and employee wages were addressed; other members agreed ^[36].
• Economic development: in October 2025 the council confirmed real and personal property tax abatements for a proposed Webb Wheel Products expansion in Tell City (about $15 million in real property and about $42 million in personal property investment, per the county's consultant) ^[37]; in December 2025 the consultant said the company's site selector had not yet given a decision ^[38].
• Public safety: in December 2025 the council used unrestricted opioid settlement funds to buy sheriff's vehicles ^[38]. In July 2026, after a state cut to Community Corrections funding that the county was told eliminated drug court funding, the commissioners (2-0) and council (7-0) set aside $103,328 in restricted opioid funds to keep the Perry County Drug Court running for about two years ^{[30, 36]}.
• Roads: the council president reported in December 2025 that the county's first-round 2026 Community Crossings road-grant application was denied; the state cited an application error involving road names, and the county expected to reapply ^[38].
• No candidate forum, debate or questionnaire for this race was found as of October 11, 2026.

Candidates on the ballot

Key points

• Budget and taxes: the Perry County Council adopted a 2026 budget of $13,663,054 by a 7-0 vote on October 9, 2025. (Perry County Council (Auditor's Office))
• Perry County government adopted a $14.0 million budget for 2026, about $722 per resident; that is +18.9% 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 -5.4% versus prior law once fully in effect (2028, since delayed to 2029 by HEA 1210). (Indiana Legislative Services Agency)

Sources