Vermillion 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]

Vermillion 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: $-257,020 (LSA)
• MUST taskforce (LIT distribution talks): none found
• wheel tax: none found
• 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

• Peebles won the May 5, 2026 Republican primary with 711 votes to 478 for Curt Phelps and 451 for Kody Zumwalt ^[25]. Democrat Ron Shepard was unopposed in his primary ^[35].
• The board has three commissioners: Misty Hess (District 1, vice president), Bill Peebles (District 2) and RJ Dunavan (District 3, president) ^[24]. Indiana commissioners must live in their district; whether Vermillion County elects them countywide or by district was not confirmed in sources reviewed.
• Carbon sequestration: Wabash Valley Resources plans carbon dioxide sequestration in the county. Peebles says state law gives commissioners no say over the project; he opposes it and says he will not take the company's campaign money ^[23]. In 2025 the commissioners adopted a temporary moratorium on carbon sequestration applications ^[28]. In January 2025 the county attorney said he had filed a declaratory judgment action because of concerns that county regulation of pipelines and sequestration could conflict with state law ^[36]. Primary challenger Curt Phelps campaigned against the project and on better communication between the board and the public ^[37].
• Ambulance service: the county has been working toward a third ambulance and station. Peebles named a Cayuga station and a future station in the Clinton–Fairview area as goals ^[23]. At a March 31, 2026 joint meeting, the commissioners and council approved $29,200 for the Perrysville Fire Department to cover about 21 months of ambulance use of its building. The minutes noted that no lease had ever been signed ^[38]. Primary challenger Kody Zumwalt also made another ambulance station his top priority ^[39].
• Economic development: Peebles points to construction jobs from Duke Energy's new Cayuga plant and two solar farms, and to marketing the Vermillion Rise Mega Park ^[23]. Zumwalt criticized the Rise board's direction and called for the Rise to repay a $1.4 million county loan for a shell building that he said had not yet drawn a business ^[39]. At the May 4, 2026 commissioners meeting, residents raised concerns about possible data center development near Universal and urged the board to avoid nondisclosure agreements and tax abatements ^[40].
• Data centers, solar and SEA 1: at the June 15, 2026 meeting, residents raised concerns about possible data center development, and one presented petitions with more than 830 signatures. The commissioners said no data center project had been approved and that any proposal would go through Area Plan Commission review and public hearings. The board heard a presentation on a proposed 250-megawatt Engie solar and battery project. It tabled a proposed zoning text amendment (2026-09) that would remove utility-scale solar plants as a permitted use and restrict lithium-ion battery storage, and it approved agreements with Baker Tilly for long-term financial planning tied to the state's Senate Bill 1 property-tax changes ^[41].
• On August 25, 2026, about 35 people spoke against a draft data center resolution and ordinance from the Vermillion Rise board, and several asked that Rise board members be replaced. Board president Dunavan said the commissioners should not approve the drafts and gave a first reading of an ordinance for a temporary data center moratorium. The board voted to dismiss the Rise drafts and directed the Area Plan Commission to draft data center regulations through a committee that includes a commissioner, a council member, a Rise board member and a member of the public ^[34]. At the September 1, 2026 meeting, residents again raised concerns about the Rise board and data centers, and a Tenaska representative described a planned 1,540-megawatt natural gas power plant, the River's Edge generating station, near Dana ^[42].
• No general-election forum for this race was found.

Candidates on the ballot

Key points

• Data centers, solar and SEA 1: at the June 15, 2026 meeting, residents raised concerns about possible data center development, and one presented petitions with more than 830 signatures. (Vermillion County Commissioners)
• Council vote Dec 8, 2025. CCMG: $1.88M (2024), $1.5M (2025), $517,498 (2026); 7 of 127 bridges are rated poor; the 2026 highway budget is $4.16M for 401 road miles. (council.vermillion.in.datapitstop.us)
• Vermillion County government adopted a $22.3 million budget for 2026, about $1,439 per resident; that is +11.6% compared with 2023. (Indiana Gateway for Government Units)

Sources