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Crook County is going through changes, but it’s more than semantics.

The county’s three-person decision-making body, which is called a court and not a commission, was in favor Wednesday of hiring a permanent county administrator after months of back-and-forth discussion. But what role that administrator will take and whether the county intends to remain a court or shift to a board of commissioners is still uncertain.

Hiring an administrator is expected to be the first step in modernizing Crook County’s governance structure.

All Oregon counties once operated under the court structure, but multiplying populations tended to compel counties to evolve to county commissions. Crook County’s court is the largest of the seven remaining court structures in Oregon, and it is not a judicial entity despite the name. The judicial responsibilities were removed in 1993.

The Crook County Court consists of two part-time commissioners and a full-time judge, who isn’t required to have any legal training. The judge, Seth Crawford, who is paid twice as much as commissioners, serves as county chair and administrator.

Crawford, who was initially resistant to establishing an administrator, warmed to the idea Wednesday, but said he didn’t want to see a new hire take complete control.

“We need a helping hand,” Crawford said at Wednesday’s meeting, “but we don’t need that to be the (only) hand.”

A county administrator can function like a manager, offering oversight and guidance to the entire county while helping shape policy and goals.

The county intends to craft a job description and salary range for a county administrator so a hire can be made as soon as possible. The current interim administrator, Andy Parks, is on a limited contract that’s set to expire Dec. 31.

Susan Hermreck, a Paulina rancher, was appointed to the court in December after Commissioner Jerry Brummer resigned, citing health issues. Prior to his resignation, Brummer told The Bulletin he was tired of fighting about a potential change in governance structure.

Hermreck said, “It was a divisive thing between the commissioners, but the bottom line is Crook County needs us to be unified. It needs us to come up with solutions, and it needs us to move forward.”

Hermreck has quickly become a decisive presence on the court. She pushed the conversation of hiring a county administrator forward at a meeting Wednesday when it had previously stalled.

Crook County is a $154 million business, Hermreck told The Bulletin on Wednesday. It needs a professional to facilitate that business, she said.

“It’s just a matter of we’re growing and we’re growing at a rapid pace,” Hermreck said. “We’ve outdone the old system.”

Talks among the court around the county’s governance structure unraveled in late 2023 after around 200 members of the public participated in three town hall meetings and the members of the court reached an impasse. Many public commenters disapproved of a change in structure, but some argued that represented only a small section of the county’s more than 25,000-person population.

In December, around 80% of county employees took an informal straw poll that showed a majority in favor of hiring an administrator and changing from a court to a board of county commissioners.

Commissioner Brian Barney said he thinks employees are looking for some continuity instead of three different bosses with three different ideas.

“I think they’re looking for something better than what’s existing,” he said. “I think they’re wanting some stability.”

With two seats on the court up for election in 2024 — Hermreck’s and Crawford’s — and the March 12 candidate filing deadline for the May 21 primary rapidly approaching, prospective candidates don’t presently know what their job responsibilities will be.

Crawford’s stance has been clear: He thinks voters ought to decide whether the court shift to a board of county commissioners. Barney thinks the court should simply make the change. Hermreck has yet to take a stance.