Putnam 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]}.

Putnam 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: $-748,720 (LSA)
• MUST taskforce (LIT distribution talks): none found
• wheel tax: adopted
• 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

• Putnam County's three commissioners serve staggered four-year terms. District 2 covers Clinton, Madison, Greencastle and Marion townships ^[35]. Woodall said at an April 2026 forum that "The entire county votes for us" ^[36].
• Primary: Woodall defeated Madison Township fire chief Lee Price in the May 5, 2026 Republican primary, 2,016 (65.1%) to 1,080. Democrat Denver Sizemore was unopposed and received 860 votes ^{[37, 23]}.
• Roads and bridges were the top issue in the Republican primary. Woodall said the county works to replace 5-7 bridges a year, and Price focused on road and bridge closures that slow fire and EMS response ^[36]. Highway reports in 2026 show several bridge replacements under way, including Bridges 78, 92, 121, 154 and 211 ^{[32, 34]}.
• County annex: the council approved a resolution of need for a new county annex 5-2 in January 2026, after a 3-3 tie at an earlier meeting. The auditor said the economic development income tax that once paid the jail bond (paid off in 2018) is the planned funding source ^[38]. The annex is expected to be finished in August 2027 ^[32].
• Energy and zoning: the county's moratorium on new solar, wind, data center and small modular reactor approvals expires November 17, 2026 ^[25]. A proposed countywide fire district is under study; if approved by the end of 2026, it could begin collecting funds in 2028 ^{[33, 34]}.
• No general-election forum or debate between Woodall and Sizemore was found in sources reviewed.

Who holds this seat now

Rick Woodall (Republican) — on this ballot, standing again.

Woodall's record in the job

• 2022: re-elected without opposition, winning the Republican primary with 3,801 votes and the general election with 8,241 ^{[26, 27]}.
• September 16, 2025: as board president, presented the two building options at a joint commissioners-council session that recommended buying 309 Medic Way as the new Health Department building, since the department must leave the hospital ^{[28, 25]}.
• October 6, 2025: voted in favor of rezoning land for the 4Leaf Solar project from A1 to Natural Resources. Commissioners Tom Helmer and Andy Beck voted to deny, so the request failed 2-1, following the Plan Commission's recommendation to deny. Before the vote Woodall asked about panel sourcing, decommissioning, good-neighbor payments and how changes from SEA 1 could affect the developer's tax commitments ^[29].
• November 17, 2025: voted against a one-year county moratorium on new small modular reactors, data centers, solar and wind projects in unincorporated areas. It passed 2-1 and runs to November 17, 2026 ^[25].
• December 15, 2025: reported that the county's annex fund (seed money from the sale of the county home, plus economic development income tax) had $1,449,385.11 left after $823,419.81 in up-front costs. He moved resolutions to form a building corporation for the annex (passed 2-1, Beck opposed) and to declare intent to reimburse annex costs from financing (unanimous) ^[30].
• May 18, 2026: moved to accept the 2026-2027 Anthem health insurance renewal with no increase and to keep employees' premium share unchanged; it passed unanimously ^[31].
• August 3, 2026: voted against chip-and-seal paving of two gravel road segments requested by the highway department; the motion passed 2-1 ^[32].
• September 8, 2026: moved to buy a jail transport van (up to $42,000) and a vehicle for the jail commander (up to $45,000) with public safety funds, and moved to hire DLZ for a phased study of a possible countywide fire district. Both passed unanimously ^[33].
• September 21, 2026: reported the annex was eight days behind schedule because of weather; moved a Baker Tilly consulting agreement (up to $20,000, from EDIT funds pending council approval) to analyze the proposed fire district; and moved to switch county credit cards to a provider that allows electronic payment. All passed unanimously ^[34].

Candidates on the ballot

Key points

• Energy and zoning: the county's moratorium on new solar, wind, data center and small modular reactor approvals expires November 17, 2026. (Putnam County Board of Commissioners)
• FHWA's 2025 inventory rates 51 of 293 bridges in the county poor. The wheel tax and excise surtax have been at the maximum since June 2024 (about $1.3 million a year). (fhwa.dot.gov)

  Worth asking: Putnam has 51 bridges rated poor, among the most in Indiana, even with its wheel tax at the maximum since 2024. Is replacing five to seven bridges a year enough, and how would you pay for more?

• Putnam County government adopted a $34.9 million budget for 2026, about $922 per resident; that is +32.0% compared with 2023. (Indiana Gateway for Government Units)

Sources