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.
02.23.2026 Mon AM BOCC
Meeting Highlights:
The commissioners address a rumor brought up in a public comment that Sheriff Budrow may soon leave his position for another in a different county. Commissioner Hover says it’s not his story to tell and that the commissioners have received no formal notice that the sheriff is leaving. He answers the question about the replacement process if an elected official leaves the office before the end of a term.
The commissioners discuss budgets with the Tonasket EMS District and the Oroville Rural EMS district. They decide to write a contract for EMS services in which the EMS districts will get all of the money raised by the EMS levies and will provide the contracted services without asking for any more money, even if there’s an emergency. This arrangement was at the suggestion of the EMS districts.
Dave Yarnell, Undersheriff, gives the commissioners a list of purchase requests, some of which have been previously approved. The commissioners ask for a list of purchase requests, including cameras, radios, elevator repair, sensors to monitor inmates’ vital signs in the cell, ID bracelets and hand-held scanners to monitor inmates and a used transport vehicle currently owned by Kootenai County, ID. The list would also include which budget each purchase would charged to.
Meeting adjourned at 11:57.