Warrick 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]

Warrick 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: $-1,822,920 (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

• Warrick County has three commissioners elected to four-year terms ^[23]. The seat requires residence in District 2, and voting appears to be countywide: the certified primary report shows 4,373 Republican votes in this race compared with 611 in the County Council District 1 race ^[25].
• Open seat: Deborah (Debbie) Stevens defeated incumbent Terry Phillippe in the May 5, 2026 Republican primary, 2,514 votes (57.49%) to 1,859 (42.51%). No Democrat filed for the primary ^[25]; Pamela Trickey is the Democratic nominee on the general-election list ^[12].
• The other two commissioners, Sarah Seaton (president) and Stacey Franz, took office in January 2025 ^{[26, 23]}.
• Data centers: in July 2026 the Area Plan Commission tabled its own data center ordinance after a hearing attended by nearly 200 people and recommended a moratorium; Seaton spoke at that hearing against a lengthy moratorium ^[32]. On Aug. 11, 2026 the commissioners passed a six-month (180-day) pause on new data center permits and created a committee of experts to study the issue ^[33]. A developer known as Project Zora controls about 1,200 acres of reclaimed mine land in northern Warrick County, proposes developing about 300 acres, and says it will not apply for permits before January 2027; commissioners said they signed no nondisclosure agreement ^{[34, 33]}.
• Broadband and fees: in 2026 the commissioners weighed requests from fiber providers to waive new county permitting fees, which one provider said could make it turn down state broadband money ^{[28, 31]}.
• Stormwater: a 66% stormwater rate increase was approved in February 2026 over a resident's objection; Seaton called it a public safety issue tied to flooding ^[28].
• Transparency: the board approves routine claims and payroll on a consent agenda ^[24], a practice Stevens criticizes ^[35].
• No candidate forum or debate for this race was found in sources reviewed.

Candidates on the ballot

Key points

• Open seat: Deborah (Debbie) Stevens defeated incumbent Terry Phillippe in the May 5, 2026 Republican primary, 2,514 votes (57.49%) to 1,859 (42.51%). No Democrat filed for the primary; Pamela Trickey is the Democratic nominee on the general-election list. (Warrick County Election Board)
• INDOT CCMG: $1.40M (2024), $1.5M (2025), $486,874 (2026). The 2026 highway budget is $10.37M. (in.gov)
• Warrick County government adopted a $55.0 million budget for 2026, about $823 per resident; that is +8.7% compared with 2023. (Indiana Gateway for Government Units)

Sources