Harrison County 2027 Budget Approved, Mike Summers Resigns

After three decades representing the council, Summers announced his resignation at the close of Monday's meeting, citing something said to him that evening that he'd "never had said" in 32 years of practice. The pool repair passed unanimously — with no competitive bids presented.

CORYDON, Ind. — The Harrison County Council adopted the county's 2027 budget Monday night, unanimously approved $165,000 to repair the leaking May & Joe Rhoads Memorial Pool, handled a round of highway and fire district spending, and closed out the evening when its longtime attorney abruptly resigned and left the room.

County Attorney Mike Summers Resigns at Meeting's End

The most unexpected moment of the night came at the very end of the meeting — with most of the public seating still filled.

Council Attorney Mike Summers — who has represented the council off and on since 1997, returning around 2010 or 2011 after roughly four years away — asked to address the room as the meeting wound down. The board president granted the request.

Summers began warmly, reflecting on nearly 32 years of practice and the people he's served alongside. "I've got a sheet of paper in my desk with all of the council people that I've served with, all of the commissioners, the sheriffs, the auditors, just a lot," he said. "And I've got to meet so many people down here that I've liked."

Then, gesturing to the room, he delivered one of the evening's defining lines:

"To look out at the audience, you've got a hell of an audience tonight. There ought to be an audience like this at every meeting. People just come in and find out what the heck's going on in my county."

The tone shifted quickly. Summers revealed that the council had held an executive session earlier that evening — one the council had discussed publicly two weeks prior, scheduled for 6 p.m. before the regular meeting — and that afterward, he had a one-on-one conversation in which something was said to him that he refused to tolerate:

"I had a conversation, just kind of a one-on-one conversation, and I had something. I've practiced almost 32 years, and I had something said to me tonight that I've never had said to me in 32 years ever. I'm not going to say what it is or who it was. I'm not going to repeat it, but I'm not having that."

He declined to name the person or describe what was said.

Summers, who underwent a heart transplant last year and credited the council with accommodating his recovery, then announced his resignation effective immediately.

"I appreciate all of you having me around so long, but I want to let you know that I'm resigning, and I'm resigning right now," he said. "I wish you all the best. If I have paperwork of yours, let me know, and I'll be glad to get it to you."

He offered a parting word to Councilman Jeremy McKim — "Jeremy, I wish you good luck on whatever pans out with you" — thanked the board, and left.

"Well, that was unexpected," the president told the room afterward, before moving on to finish the meeting's remaining business.

No Public Notice Located for the Executive Session

The executive session that preceded Monday's meeting — and that Summers referenced in his remarks — was announced at the council's Oct. 13 meeting, where members discussed holding a session at 6 p.m. before the Oct. 26 regular meeting. Monday, the council president confirmed the session had taken place.

Indiana's Open Door Law requires public notice of an executive session at least 48 hours in advance, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, posted at the agency's principal office and delivered to news media that filed an annual written request. Notice of an executive session must also state the subject matter by specific reference to one of the enumerated instances in IC 5-14-1.5-6.1 for which a closed session may be held.

As of publication, the author has been unable to locate any posted notice for the Oct. 26 executive session. The county has posted such notices before — a "Notice of Executive Session" for a Feb. 17 commissioners' meeting remains available on the county's website, and the commissioners' Oct. 5 executive session was publicized locally. Whether a notice was posted at the Government Center in compliance with the statute could not be determined from publicly available records.

Background: The McKim Appointment Dispute

Monday's resignation did not come out of nowhere. It landed at the end of a month of turmoil on the council centered on McKim's appointment and his roles across county government.

At the council's Sept. 28 meeting, Chairman Kyle Nix and Vice Chairman Jake Blackman both resigned their leadership posts, taking effect immediately and leaving the council without a president or vice chair for a period, according to the Corydon Democrat's reporting. "This budget's been a tough one," Nix said. "It's been one of the toughest years I've seen in 12 years on the council."

At that same meeting, the council wrestled with questions surrounding McKim's appointment and his roles throughout the county, including at Harrison County Hospital. McKim had his personal attorney present at the meeting. Nix defended him as a public servant who should get to serve "without looking over your shoulder every dang day," adding that "every decision that is made by this body shouldn't be called into question every single day."

The council directed Summers to seek a declaratory judgment from the Indiana Attorney General's office on questions surrounding the appointment. "In my opinion, this needs to be done because it needs to be known for the integrity of your votes," Summers said at the time.

An executive session was planned before the council's Oct. 13 meeting so Summers could ask questions about the timeline of McKim's appointment and roles, but that session was postponed after the council was left without a president or vice president to lead its business. Monday's executive session — discussed openly at the Oct. 13 meeting — was expected to finally take up the matter.

Monday, the president told the room the county is "working with the Attorney General, Todd Rokita, to resolve our issues," and is waiting for direction on next steps. She did not elaborate on what those issues involve.

The 2027 Budget

The council read the budget a second time Monday — as required, two weeks after the first reading to allow for public feedback — and adopted it on a vote of 5 to 1, with one abstention. The abstaining member said he was stepping aside because he came into the budget process when it was mostly done; the dissenting vote went unexplained on the record.

As adopted, the budget carries a riverboat fund of $21,713,543, a county general fund of $11,456,418, and an adopted tax levy of $5,477,800, along with some $4.6 million in additional special funds ranging from the Health Fund ($1,324,262) and LIT Public Safety ($2,407,669) to the Paint the Plow Program ($866).

The council then approved binding reviews separately for Harrison County Solid Waste and five township fire protection districts, most passing unanimously. The Harrison Township Fire Protection budget drew the evening's closest vote — 4 to 2, with one abstention — after a council member objected to the district being brought up to its maximum levy so soon after a separate appropriation was approved.

The budget comes amid a difficult fiscal stretch. In September, the council voted 4-3 to request $7.5 million from the community fund managed by the Harrison County Community Foundation to cover 2027 expenses, including $2.3 million for the Harrison County Justice Center renovation bond, $2 million for property tax reduction, and $1 million for schools. McKim, Castetter, and Councilman Joe Kellum voted against the request.

Among the other appropriations approved Monday: $24,673.98 for county IT contractual services — reduced from the $33,344.52 originally requested after the IT director trimmed costs and deferred items to next year — passed 7-0; $40,000 in transfers for courthouse security and insurance deductibles; and $7,359.86 in computer supplies for the Justice Center renovation project.

Highway Department: Bridge Replacement, Road Reconstruction — and a $9 Million Intersection Project

Highway Director Kevin Russell brought two appropriations before the council.

The first, $286,300 from the Cumulative Bridge Fund, begins the engineering process to replace Harrison County's only wooden bridge — Bridge 24 on Walnut Valley Road, which Russell said dates to the early 1980s.

The second, $5.5 million from the Riverboat Fund, funds the Cordon Ridge Road reconstruction project about a mile west of Crandall-Lanesville Road, designed to remove the dangerous hairpin curve on the road. The project began in 2023, when the council funded the design along with utility relocation and right-of-way purchases, and bids are set to open at the commissioners' meeting Monday. Russell said he expects the final cost to come in below the appropriation and will return to the council with the actual figure based on the low bid. The $835,000 the county committed as its match for the separate REDI economic development project is unaffected.

Russell also won approval, 7-0, to amend the highway department's salary ordinance to address a part-time pay cap that has left the department shorthanded. With three employees out on workers' compensation — one for a year — the department wants to hire part-time retirees with commercial driver's licenses at the same rate as the position they'd be filling: $22.83 an hour for highway crewmen, $24 for large equipment operators, rather than the $19.98 part-time cap. The change requires no additional budget money, only transfers between pay lines. County Administrator Chad Shireman suggested creating two new part-time classifications tied directly to those positions, which the council adopted.

Russell closed with the evening's biggest long-term item: a roughly $9 million proposal to reconstruct the intersection of State Road 111 and Doolittle Hill Road. The county has spent years pressing INDOT for the project; the state's priority formulas have kept it off the list, though INDOT did install an advanced conflict warning system there that officials agree doesn't solve the underlying problem. INDOT has now hired a consultant to scope the project, and Russell intends to apply for federal highway funds when the application window opens in early November — likely at a 60-40 split, putting the county's share in the neighborhood of $3.6 million from the Riverboat Fund. Russell argued this funding cycle offers the county its best shot, given relationships at INDOT and support from the Seymour District. If awarded, the first appropriation — about $1 million for engineering — would come in 2027, with construction not expected until around 2032.

He'll return to the council with a funding commitment letter at its next meeting.

Pool Repair Approved Without Competitive Bids

The council unanimously approved $165,000 for the Rhoads pool repair on a motion from Councilman Kyle Nix and a second from Councilman Jeremy McKim. Park Supervisor Larry Shickles told the council the work — leak evaluations, valve repairs, and recoating with epoxy sealer — should extend the pool's life five to seven years, with the goal of opening by Memorial Day.

The work was approved without competitive bids. Shickles presented a single bid in October from American Clean & Seal, a quote the council previously flagged as insufficient, and neither a second bid nor a cost-benefit analysis accompanied Monday's request. A review of past Harrison County commissioner and council meeting minutes by this reporter found no instance in which the parks department under Shickles has offered competitive bids — with the American Clean & Seal quote the only formal bid ever presented to the elected bodies.

A few attendees had come to speak on the pool and departed after the unanimous vote. Later in the meeting, when the president opened the floor for public comment, none was offered — the president noted there had been discussion on Facebook about the pool and that some pool supporters had been expected to attend.

The commissioners have expressed interest in a public forum on the pool's future. Shickles said the park board meets Wednesday and will be asked to initiate the process for establishing a commission to study renovating versus building a new pool, with public forums to follow. (Shickles described the park board "creating an ordinance," though under Indiana law it is the county's legislative bodies, not the parks department, that adopt ordinances — see editor's note.)

Monday's no-bid award lands amid broader questions about how the parks department handles county money. In September, WDRB/WAVE reported on a public dispute over county parks focused on past credit card use, noting that Indiana State Board of Accounts audits ordered Shickles to reimburse the county $1,400 in 2020 and roughly $8,000 the following year for unsupported charges. Those allegations are contested and have not been adjudicated.

What's Next

With the budget adopted, the county must submit it to the state by Nov. 9. Cordon Ridge Road bids open at the commissioners' meeting Monday, with Russell returning to the council with the final figure. He'll also bring the funding commitment letter for the State Road 111 project to the council's next meeting. The park board meets Wednesday to begin establishing the commission that will guide the pool's future.

The council now must move forward without its attorney, with no public explanation yet of what drove him to resign on the spot.

Author's Notes

1. The "availability" quote. Shickles' statement that he selected contractors based on "availability" does not appear in the Oct. 26 transcript. His only use of the word was about the availability of staff for the epoxy work. The no-bid framing therefore rests on the Oct. 13 meeting and the reporting cited below — confirm the source before publication, as it is central to that section.

2. Unnamed voters. Confirm the identity of the abstaining member on the budget vote and the dissenting voter.

3. The park board "ordinance." In the transcript, Shickles says the park board "will be asked to create an ordinance." Under Indiana's general park law (IC 36-10-3), park boards are created by ordinance adopted by the county's legislative body — the commissioners — and park boards themselves adopt rules and resolutions, not ordinances. Shickles' "ordinance" phrasing is likely shorthand; the article is worded to say the park board will "initiate the process." Verify with the park board or commissioners what instrument is actually being used — an ordinance adopted by the commissioners on the park board's request, a park board resolution, or something else — and tighten the wording accordingly.

4. Minutes review. The claim that the parks department has never offered competitive bids rests on the author's own review of past commissioner and council meeting minutes. Before publication, cite the specific meetings or date range reviewed — a sweeping "never" claim is stronger with the underlying minutes identified (e.g., "a review of meeting minutes from [date range]").

5. The resignation. Summers did not ask the council to accept his resignation; he simply announced it and left. The president thanked him for his years of service and moved on to finish the meeting. The council took no vote on the resignation.

6. The audience. Per the author's observation, only a few attendees left after the pool vote; most of the public seating was still occupied when Summers spoke. The transcript alone does not establish crowd size; this detail rests on the author's firsthand account.

7. The executive session notice. No public notice for the Oct. 26 executive session could be found by this author. The only public reference to the session located was its verbal mention during the council's Oct. 13 regular meeting; no posted notice, agenda item, or media advisory for the session was found on the county's website or in publicly available records. Whether a notice was physically posted at the Government Center in compliance with the Open Door Law could not be determined. If the Auditor's office confirms a posting date or produces a copy of the notice, update the "No Public Notice Located" section accordingly.

References

1.     Randy Spieth, "County council introduces 2027 budget," The Corydon Democrat / Madison Courier. (First reading figures; Nov. 2 adoption deadline and Nov. 9 state submission; preview of the Oct. 26 agenda, including the $165,000 pool request and the $33,344.52 IT request.)

2.     "Needed repairs spark talks of pool's future," The Corydon Democrat / Madison Courier. (Oct. 5 commissioners' meeting; the $165,000 request; Fluhr's comments on leaks and the pool's lifespan; the three long-term options; Commissioner Stepro's remarks.)

3.     "County council chair, vice chair resign from posts," The Corydon Democrat / Madison Courier. (Sept. 28 meeting; Nix and Blackman resignations; the McKim appointment dispute and his hospital role; Summers' direction to seek a declaratory judgment; the 4-3 vote on the $7.5 million community fund request.)

4.     Eyes on Harrison, "Part  2: Rhodes Pool Funding Request — County Council Hears New Costs and New Questions," Oct. 15, 2026. (Oct. 13 council meeting; the single bid from American Clean & Seal; Gerdon's and Nix's questions; the $125,000–$130,000 admission; the postponed executive session.)

5.     WDRB/WAVE, "Public dispute over Harrison County parks puts focus on past credit card use," Sept. 19, 2026. (Background on the parks department dispute; state audit reimbursement orders of $1,400 in 2020 and roughly $8,000 in 2021.)

6.     Harrison County Council agenda, Oct. 13, 2026, Indiana county government file archive. (Public hearing and first reading of the 2027 budget.)

7.     Harrison County, "County Leadership Meeting Information," meeting agendas and minutes index. (Source checked for a posted Oct. 26 executive session notice; author's review of past commissioner and council minutes supporting the competitive-bid finding.)

8.     "Notice of Executive Session of the Harrison County Commissioners," Feb. 17, 2026. (Example of the county's practice of posting executive session notices.)

9.     Indiana Code § 5-14-1.5-5, Public notice of meetings. (48-hour notice requirement; posting location; delivery to news media; exclusion of weekends and holidays.)

10.  Indiana Code § 5-14-1.5-6.1, Executive sessions. (Enumerated purposes for closed sessions; requirement that notice state the subject matter by specific statutory reference; certification that no other subject was discussed.)

11.  Indiana Code § 36-10-3, General Park and Recreation Law. (Park boards created by ordinance of the county legislative body; park board powers include adopting rules and resolutions governing park facilities.)

12.  Harrison County Parks, "Rhoads Pool — Harrison County Parks, Indiana." (Facility background: 25-yard, six-lane outdoor pool; home to the 140-member Hammerheads swim team.)

13.Blue Dot HC (bluedothc.com), contemporaneous coverage of Harrison County Parks Department appropriations, 2020–2022. (Wright Interpretive Center renovation request, Feb. 2021; pickleball court improvements at Buffalo Trace, June 2022; $1.6 million ARP-funded playground replacements at Hayswood, Buffalo Trace, and Gresham parks, July 2022; Indiana State Board of Accounts audit findings regarding the Parks Department, Oct. 2022.)