Crook County Board of Commissioners

A Crook County hearings officer will decide Wednesday whether evidence involving Knife River’s aggregate operation northwest of Prineville is sufficient to begin formal proceedings that could modify or revoke the company’s conditional-use permits.

Crook County commissioners unanimously declared a local state of emergency Wednesday afternoon as multiple wildfires continued to grow across the region, with fire officials reporting Thursday morning that protecting homes and communities around Prineville remains their top priority following a day of extreme fire behavior.

The Crook County Board of Commissioners has approved a new public records policy, marking the second major phase of an ongoing transparency initiative championed by Commissioner Seth Crawford with unanimous support from other commissioners.

Crook County commissioners are seeking additional information and an independent third-party review of the Crook County Vector Control District after concluding the district's response to concerns raised earlier this year failed to adequately address a series of governance, financial oversight, and public meetings questions.

Election night results indicate the race for Crook County Commissioner Position 2 is headed toward a November runoff after no candidate secured a majority in the three-way contest.

State and county officials have confirmed that boundary change filings submitted by Alfalfa Fire District Chief Chad LaVallee improperly classified Juniper Acres properties as annexed into the district,

Crook County’s public library may soon restrict use of its meeting rooms to normal operating hours after staff raised concerns about after-hours security problems, building access issues, and facility misuse.

A local contractor with longstanding government ties and a history of ethics concerns involving federal contracts, used taxpayer funds to attend conferences at luxury resorts and to pay for meals for its governing board members.

The Crook County Board of Commissioners voted last week to temporarily shift responsibility for administering public records requests away from the county’s legal department and into county administration, adopting an interim structure while a comprehensive rewrite of the county’s public records policy is underway.

Crook County has begun rolling out new transparency initiatives after mounting scrutiny over its handling of public records and compliance with Oregon’s open government laws.