Civic
Every race on your ballot, with sources. Races by stateJoin the Luminary network

2026 General Election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026

Scott County Council, District 4

Voted on across Scott County, in district 4.

Find your exact ballotAll Scott County races

Who votes on this seat: Only voters who live in District 4 vote in this race. 2026 General Election Candidate List

What this office does

The county council is the county's fiscal body: it sets the county property tax rate, appropriates the money the county spends and fixes the pay and number of county employees [1, 2, 3]. Most councils have seven members, four elected from districts and three elected countywide (at large), though some larger counties elect all members by district [1, 4]. The board of commissioners runs county government day to day, while the council controls the money [5, 6]. Marion County has no separate county council; the 25-member Indianapolis City-County Council serves as the legislative body for the consolidated city-county government [7, 8].

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; district seats and at-large seats are filled at alternating general elections [9]
Elected
On the partisan general-election ballot; in most counties four members are elected by district voters and three at large by the whole county, while counties of 400,000–700,000 residents elect seven members by district and opt-in counties of 185,000–300,000 elect nine by district [4, 1]. Every county council race on the 2026 state candidate list is a district seat [10]
At-large races
All three at-large seats are filled at the same election, so voters may choose up to three candidates and the top three vote-getters win; straight-ticket votes do not count in these multi-seat races [4, 11]
Term limit
None stated; the statute that sets the four-year term does not limit how many terms a member may serve [9]
Qualifications
Must have lived in the county at least one year, and in the district (for a district seat) 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 [12, 13]
Pay
Set locally in the council's annual ordinance fixing the compensation of county officers and employees [3, 14]
On the 2026 ballot
368 races; 147 contested [10]
What the law puts in this job (13)
  • Serves as the county fiscal body under the name of the county council [1].
  • Sets the county property tax rate and other countywide rates not fixed by state law [2].
  • Appropriates county money; except as otherwise provided by law, money may leave the county treasury only under an appropriation the council makes [2].
  • Adopts the annual budget at a yearly meeting where the county auditor presents budget estimates; budget ordinances must be read on two separate days, and funding an item above the estimates takes a three-fourths vote [14].
  • Adopts a separate salary ordinance setting the pay of county officers and employees and the number of deputies and employees in each office, after considering the commissioners' recommendations [14, 3].
  • Sets pay schedules and job classifications paid from the county general, highway, park and other funds, except that each local health department board sets pay for its own staff [3].
  • Controls spending and revenue collection in the county, including special spending requests during the year [6].
  • Authorizes by ordinance the bonds that fund county road and bridge projects and can create a county housing authority by resolution [8].
  • Serves as the county legislative body as well as the fiscal body in Lake and St. Joseph counties [8].
  • Declares a commissioner's seat vacant when the commissioner moves out of the county or district, and in certain cases can remove a county commissioner from office [15, 13].
  • Becomes the body that adopts county local income tax rates under the 2025 SEA 1 overhaul, replacing local income tax councils; the change is now scheduled for ordinances adopted starting July 1, 2028 [16, 17].
  • Has its adopted budget, tax rate and levies reviewed by the state Department of Local Government Finance, whose county budget order certifies the approved budget, tax rate and levy for each fund [18].
  • Does not run county departments day to day; the commissioners provide administrative oversight and the council provides fiduciary oversight [5].

Scott 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.

This office's 2026 budget

$124,786

0.5% of the county's adopted 2026 budget · 29% more than 2019, before inflation

2019: $96,7562020: $109,6972021: $111,0022022: $111,0622023: $113,3342024: $124,7862025: $02026: $124,786
2019 $96,7562026 $124,786
The year-by-year figures

Adopted budget, all funds, 2019-2026 (not adjusted for inflation)

  • 2019: $96,756
  • 2020: $109,697
  • 2021: $111,002
  • 2022: $111,062
  • 2023: $113,334
  • 2024: $124,786
  • 2025: $0
  • 2026: $124,786

Budget lines counted: 0061 COUNTY COUNCIL

Adopted 2026 county budget (Form 1 line items, Form 4B) and earlier years' budgets

All members combined, 2026 budget lines (presidents are often paid more)

$82,986

From the county budget; verify against the county's 2026 salary ordinance. A line can include longevity pay or a second role.

Also on the record for this office

  • SEA 1 estimated county-unit revenue change in 2028 vs prior law: $-458,420 (LSA)
  • MUST taskforce (LIT distribution talks): none found
  • wheel tax: discussed
  • 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.

General Fund cash, in days of spending · 2025

104 days

End-of-2025 General Fund cash divided by a year's disbursements, times 365.

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: high (council and commissioners jointly): spending and appropriation decisions

Position 29 of 33 counties with 25,000 to 50,000 residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source · source

Share of the 2025 General Fund budget spent · 2025

108.9%

Actual General Fund spending divided by the certified budget.

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: high (council appropriates; commissioners and officers spend)

Position 5 of 33 counties with 25,000 to 50,000 residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source · source

County debt per resident · 2025

$218

Debt outstanding at the end of 2025 (annual financial report).

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: high (council authorizes borrowing; commissioners initiate many projects)

Position 9 of 27 counties with 25,000 to 50,000 residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source · source

Budget growth, 2023 to 2026 · 2023-2026

+27.7%

Adopted budget, all funds, not adjusted for inflation.

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: high (council adopts the budget)

Position 9 of 34 counties with 25,000 to 50,000 residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source · source

SEA 1 estimate for 2028 · 2028 (LSA estimate)

-7.1%

Legislative Services Agency estimate of the county government's revenue change under the 2025 property tax law, compared with prior law.

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: low: set by state law (SEA 1-2025); local rate choices from 2028 change the outcome

Position 10 of 34 counties with 25,000 to 50,000 residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source

Property tax cap credits · 2026

8.6%

Tax-cap (circuit breaker) credits as a share of the 2026 levy: revenue the county does not collect because of the caps.

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: low: set mainly by the constitutional caps and the combined rates of all units in the county

Position 12 of 34 counties with 25,000 to 50,000 residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source · source

Local income tax share of county revenue · 2026

48.3%

How much of the county's revenue comes from local income tax.

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: partial: the council adopts local income tax rates within limits set by state law

Position 12 of 34 counties with 25,000 to 50,000 residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source · source

Meeting minutes online · 2026-10

Posted as scanned images

Whether the council's or commissioners' minutes are posted online (the better of the two), checked Oct. 2026.

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: high (commissioners and council decide what they post)

About this race

  • District 4 incumbent and Council President J.R. Ward (R), listed on the ballot as James (JR) Ward, is seeking another term [37, 38, 25].
  • May 5, 2026 primary: Ward (R, 234 votes) and James D Coomer (D, 161 votes) were each unopposed [25].
  • The seven-member Scott County Council is the county's fiscal body. Its website lists four district members and three at-large members [37]. The four district seats were last filled in the November 2022 election, and 2026 council agendas list those members' terms as January 2023 to December 2026 [22, 23]. Each district race on the 2026 ballot is for one seat, so the single seat on the state list is consistent with this.
  • Republicans hold most council seats. John Lizenby, elected at large in 2024, is a Democrat [39].
  • In 2025 the council's main budget issue was a judgment bond. On Sept. 9, 2025, public commenters said the county needed the bond because of an incorrect 2024 tax rate and the lawsuit with the Sheriff over the 2025 budget he had been given in quarters. Council President J.R. Ward said it was a judgment bond, not an emergency bond. He also said the Sheriff's 2025 budget had been submitted to the state as a quarterly budget on advice from the State Board of Accounts and legal counsel [29].
  • The bond was capped at $6 million [29]. The final vote on Oct. 14, 2025 was 4-1, with John Lizenby voting no [30]. In March 2026 the council voted 7-0 to reimburse the General Fund, LIT Public Safety and LIT Special Purpose funds a total of $5,020,298.75 from the judgment bond [34]. In February 2026 it approved the Sheriff Department's "court ordered Pay Matrix from 2025" for 2026 [33].
  • Taxes: on Sept. 9, 2025, Mr. Semler told the council that a decision to increase the local income tax (LIT) will have to be made in 2027 [29]. On Dec. 9, 2025, Ward said the bond money had been received and that property taxes will likely rise $20 to $30 [40]. In June 2025 Ward said the county's finances for the next year were "up in the air" because of Senate Bill 1, the 2025 property-tax law [28].
  • Pay: on Dec. 30, 2025, two motions for a 3% raise for 2026 failed 2-4. One covered all employees including elected officials; the other excluded elected officials and EMS [32]. In February 2026 the council approved 3% raise appropriations department by department and moved ahead with phase one of a salary study by Waggoner, Irwin and Scheele. The firm's not-to-exceed offer was $50,860; the county's last such study was in 2008 [27, 33].
  • The council adopted the 2026 budget 6-0 on Oct. 28, 2025 [41]. For the 2027 budget it scheduled a September 2026 special meeting on "Wage Study and Budgets." Its agenda center lists an Oct. 16, 2026 budget hearing and an Oct. 27, 2026 budget adoption [42, 43]. The August 2026 agenda included a resident's request to ask about the bond, related expenses and general fund balances [23].
  • All six major-party candidates for the District 1, 2 and 4 seats were unopposed in their May 5, 2026 primaries [25]. No candidate forums, questionnaires or campaign coverage for these races were found in free local sources.

Candidates on the ballot

James D Coomer

Democratic

Democratic nominee for District 4. He was unopposed in the May 2026 primary [25].

Coomer's background

  • His BallotReady candidate profile lists him as a molding operator at Valeo [44].

How Coomer got on the ballot

  • Unopposed in the May 5, 2026 Democratic primary with 161 votes [25].

What we could not find about Coomer

  • No campaign website, questionnaire, forum remarks or news coverage of this candidate's 2026 campaign was found, so positions and plans are unknown for this profile; his occupation comes only from a self-reported BallotReady profile.
  • Official 2022 primary results list a James D. Coomer who finished second (93 votes) in the Democratic primary for this seat. The Crothersville Times reported in January 2022 that James D. Coomer had filed for District 4. This is probably the same person but is not confirmed.
  • Whether he previously served on the county council could not be confirmed from reviewed sources.
  • No endorsements or campaign-finance reports were found for this race.

Sources for Coomer

James (JR) Ward

RepublicanIncumbent

Republican incumbent and council president, seeking re-election to the District 4 seat he has held since January 2023 [22, 23, 25].

Ward's background

  • Scott County Council member for District 4 since January 2023, and council president in 2024, 2025 and 2026 [23, 24, 26, 27].

Ward's positions

Budget & taxes

  • September 2025: Said the council had set budgets as tight as they can be and backed the judgment bond as having no other option after review of the 2026 budget [29].
  • December 2025: Said property taxes will likely increase $20 to $30 after the bond [40].

Property taxes & SEA 1

  • June 2025: Said county finances for 2026 were "up in the air" because of Senate Bill 1 [28].

County services & staffing

  • Pursued a new salary study (the first since 2008), and in June 2025 said he wanted to look at staff raises before other spending [27, 28].
  • April 2026: Said the council would set the Community Corrections budget going forward [35].

Ward on the current officeholder

  • Is the current officeholder. No statements about his opponent were found.

How Ward got on the ballot

  • Unopposed in the May 5, 2026 Republican primary with 234 votes [25].

What we could not find about Ward

  • No campaign website, questionnaire or news interview was found. GoodParty.org links to a campaign Facebook page, which could not be reviewed for this profile. His occupation and background outside the council are unknown.
  • WDRB coverage of the 2025 sheriff budget dispute and the judgment bond, including a June 2025 council meeting, could not be reviewed for this profile.
  • No endorsements or campaign-finance reports were found for this race.

Sources for Ward

Key points

  • In 2025 the council's main budget issue was a judgment bond. On Sept. 9, 2025, public commenters said the county needed the bond because of an incorrect 2024 tax rate and the lawsuit with the Sheriff over the 2025 budget he had been given in quarters. (Scott County Council)
  • Scott County government adopted a $27.0 million budget for 2026, about $1,079 per resident; that is +27.7% 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 -7.1% versus prior law once fully in effect (2028, since delayed to 2029 by HEA 1210). (Indiana Legislative Services Agency)

Sources

Researched Sunday, October 11, 2026

  1. Indiana Code 36-2-3-2: County council as fiscal body; size (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  2. Indiana Code 36-2-5-2: Tax rates and appropriations (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  3. Indiana Code 36-2-5-3: Compensation of officers and employees (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  4. Indiana Code 36-2-3-4: Council districts and at-large members (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  5. Commissioners Responsibilities (Boone County, Indiana)
  6. About the County Council (Hancock County, Indiana)
  7. Indiana Code 36-2-3-1: Application of chapter (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  8. County Government Overview: Indiana (National Association of Counties (NACo))
  9. Indiana Code 36-2-3-3: Election and term of fiscal body (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  10. 2026 General Election Candidate List (Indiana Election Division)
  11. Monroe County voters put three incumbent Democrats back on county council (The B Square Bulletin (Dave Askins))
  12. Indiana Code 3-8-1-22: Candidates for county council (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  13. 2026 Indiana Candidate Guide (Indiana Election Division)
  14. Indiana Code 36-2-5-11: Annual budget, tax rate and salary ordinances (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  15. Indiana Code 36-2-2-5: Qualifications and residency of members; district or countywide election (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  16. Major Changes to Expenditure Rate of LIT in SEA 1 (2025) (Barnes & Thornburg LLP)
  17. Legislation Affecting Local Income Taxes (memorandum on HEA 1210-2026) (Indiana Department of Local Government Finance)
  18. County Specific Information (Indiana Department of Local Government Finance)
  19. 2022 General Election results (Indiana Election Division)
  20. Scott County Council regular meeting agenda, August 11, 2026 (Scott County Council)
  21. Compliance Examination Report of Scott County, Indiana, January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023 (Schedule of Officials) (Indiana State Board of Accounts)
  22. 2026 Primary Election results (Indiana Election Division)
  23. Scott County Council minutes, January 14, 2025 (Scott County Council)
  24. Scott County Council minutes, January 13, 2026 (Scott County Council)
  25. Scott County Council minutes, June 10, 2025 (Scott County Council)
  26. Scott County Council minutes, September 9, 2025 (Scott County Council)
  27. Scott County Council minutes, October 14, 2025 (Scott County Council)
  28. Scott County Council special session minutes, December 30, 2025 (Scott County Council)
  29. Scott County Council minutes, February 10, 2026 (Scott County Council)
  30. Scott County Council minutes, March 10, 2026 (Scott County Council)
  31. Scott County Council minutes, April 14, 2026 (Scott County Council)
  32. County Council (Scott County Government)
  33. James "J.R." Ward (GoodParty.org)
  34. 2024 General Election results (Indiana Election Division)
  35. Scott County Council minutes, December 9, 2025 (Scott County Council)
  36. Scott County Council 2026 budget adoption minutes, October 28, 2025 (Scott County Council)
  37. Notice of special meeting of the Scott County Council, September 4, 2026 (Scott County Council)
  38. Agenda Center: County Council agendas and minutes (Scott County Government)
  39. James D Coomer (candidate profile) (BallotReady)
What's included
the U.S. House, statewide offices, every Indiana House and Senate district on the ballot, Indiana's statewide public questions and judicial retention questions, and county, township, city, town and school board races from the Indiana Election Division's candidate list.
Everything else
Local races (county, city, school board, judges) and anything else on your ballot are on your official sample ballot: IndianaVoters.in.gov.
Candidate lists
As of Sunday, October 18, 2026.
At the polls
Indiana law lets you bring a list of candidates and public questions into the polling place, including one stored on your phone, as long as you don't electioneer. IC 3-11-8-18.5

This is not an official ballot. Confirm your registration, polling place and ballot with your election office through vote.gov.