SWEETWATER COUNTY — The Sweetwater County Board of County Commissioners will meet Tuesday morning to adopt a new policy governing how the county tracks and approves major spending.
The commissioners will discuss a new Capital Projects and Major Expenditures Policy that would take effect July 1. The policy establishes a centralized Capital Department to handle all county purchases and projects valued at $10,000 or more, covering everything from facility repairs and equipment purchases to software upgrades and bulk supply orders.
Agenda documents say the current system has created inconsistencies between internal tracking and official financial reporting and has required frequent budget transfers to accommodate project changes. The new framework creates a Capital Committee to review and prioritize spending requests, while keeping final approval authority with the full board.
All capital requests will be submitted through the annual budget process and must include a project description, estimated cost, timeline and operational impact. Unspent funds for ongoing projects will carry forward automatically, while unused funds for completed work will be reviewed for reallocation each budget cycle.
Special Prosecutor Sought
The commissioners will also vote on a resolution appointing Carbon County Prosecuting Attorney Sarah Chavez Harkins as a special prosecutor in an unspecified criminal or juvenile case. The resolution states the Sweetwater County Attorney’s office identified a conflict of interest that prevents county prosecutors from handling the matter themselves. Harkins has agreed to take on the case without compensation from Sweetwater County.
CFAC Board to be Dissolved
A memorandum of understanding between Sweetwater County, the City of Rock Springs and Sweetwater County School District No. 1 would formally dissolve the Community Fine Arts Center board. The CFAC nonprofit was administratively dissolved in 2016 after operating since 1991, but the three agencies continued informally cooperating to maintain a permanent fine art collection and schedule exhibits and performing arts programs. The MOU states there are no outstanding debts, contracts or assets held by the board. The school district retains ownership of the permanent art collection.
The commissioners will meet at 9 a.m. at the Sweetwater County Courthouse in Green River. The meeting is open to the public and will be streamed on the county’s YouTube channel. The full agenda and packet can be found here.
