These notes were taken by an Okanogan County Watch volunteer. Every attempt is made to be accurate. Notes are verbatim when possible, and otherwise summarized or paraphrased.
Note takers comments or clarifications are in italics. These notes are not the official county record of the meeting. For officially approved minutes, which are normally published at a later time, CLICK HERE.
The time stamps refer to the times on the AV Capture archive of the meeting on this date at the County livestream archive. To locate items in real time, the clock on the wall in the AV Capture screen can be helpful.
02.17.2026 Tues AM BOCC
Meeting Highlights:
The commissioners discuss their concern with the sheriff’s bill now being considered by the state legislature. It would allow the Criminal Justice Training Commission to remove an elected sheriff from office and possibly also disallow a sheriff from performing law enforcement duties in municipalities. Since several towns in the county contract with the Sheriff’s Department for LEO services, this would impact the county negatively.
The commissioners hear a presentation for a new phone system. The company that handles the county's current system has declared bankruptcy. The commissioners are impressed with the presentation. RingCentral services could cost $12,000 more per year than the old service, but the commissioners feel they’ll be getting uninterrupted service using VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) with Starlink as a backup.
Evergreen Economics, a consulting firm, reports to the commissioners about the study they’ve done on the economic and other impacts of the cannabis industry in Okanogan County.
Meeting adjourned at 12:07.