CACHE COUNTY – In coming months, a County Form of Government Committee will be collecting feedback from local voters to identify a possible change to Cache County’s form of government.
“But we’ve not doing this in a vacuum,” said Jack Draxler, a former state representative and chair of the study committee.
“This committee simply can’t make the best decisions on our form of government without the essential input of our county’s residents,” he added.
The committee will also review materials from other Utah counties that have explored their government structures and meet with local and state officials who have experience in different county set-ups to benefit from their experience.
Other members of the Form of Government Committee are local leaders who care deeply about the community, including Jordan Mathis from the Bear River Health Department and mayors Ed Buist from Mendon, Bryan Cox from Hyde Park and Blake Wright from River Heights, according to a recent county press release.
The members of that committee will be studying the four optional forms of county government allowed under Utah laws.
Those include the current council-executive system; a part-time county council with an appointed county manager; a full-time, three-member commission elected at at-large; and a larger part-time county commission.
The Cache County Council informally decided to organize a study committee to consider changes to the county’s form of government at their regular meeting on March 18.
The decision was influenced by discussions surrounding House Bill 356 (County Governance Amendments) passed by the 2025 general session of the Utah Legislature, which initially sought to restrict certain forms of county government.
Council member David L. Erickson injected himself into legislative deliberations on that bill at the State Capitol, when he alleged that the county executive position represented a roadblock to progress in Cache County.
Public involvement is vital to the study process, Draxler emphasized.
In coming months, he promised that the committee would hold public meetings, gather feedback through various channels and work hard to keep local residents informed and engaged.
Additional details — including meeting schedules, background materials and ways to provide input – will be shared through the county’s officials website and social media channels.
For additional information about the Cache County Form of Government Committee, residents can review the committee’s progress at https://www.cachecounty.gov/study-committee/.
The committee’s report to the county council is expected by the end of December 2025.