Following a crowded and contentious primary, Park County is on track for a much quieter general election.

From Aug. 5 through Monday evening, local residents could declare their candidacies for roughly 60 nonpartisan, unpaid positions on school boards and other special districts across Park County. But in contrast to the bustling primary season, the special district seats drew relatively few contenders and only a handful of contested races.

Northwest College

Three seats on the Northwest College Board of Trustees are up for election this year.

Current trustee Denise Laursen filed for reelection for her Powell area seat on the board, while newcomer Megan Nickles filed for the other available seat.

Powell area Trustee R. J. Kost had filed for reelection on Friday, but withdrew on Monday. Kost is already poised to represent Senate District 19, as he won last week’s Republican primary over state Rep. Paul Hoeft. Assuming Kost wins the Senate race in the general election, he would have had to resign his seat on the college board, as Wyoming law prohibits officials from simultaneously holding elected positions that exchange funds; in this case, the Legislature provides funding to community colleges like NWC.

During Kost’s previous term in Senate District 19, from 2019-2022, he concurrently served on the Powell hospital board. Kost is not seeking reelection to his hospital board seat this year, either.

Late Monday afternoon, outgoing Park County Commissioner Dossie Overfield filed for the Cody area position on the college board that’s currently held by Trustee John Housel.

School boards

Meanwhile, four seats are up for grabs on the Powell school board, with six candidates in the race.

Incumbents Dusty Paul, Beau Fulton and Lillian Brazelton filed for reelection, along with newcomers David Burke, Laurie Larsen and Jon Allen. Incumbent Trace Paul didn’t file for another term. 

Over in the Cody school district, three board positions are on the ballot with four declared candidates to date. Incumbents Cathy Roes and Brandi Nelson have filed for reelection, while Wes Werbelow and Faith Kingston are also seeking a seat. (A fifth candidate, Jim Krubeck, withdrew.)

Incumbent Cody trustee Karen Schipfmann-Nelson didn’t file for another term.

On the Meeteetse school board, Nicole Blake and Nick Randol filed for reelection while Jeff Duncan is also seeking one of the three spots. Sarah McKergow filed for an unexpired, two-year term on the board.

Hospital boards

Four positions are up for election on the Powell Hospital District board. Incumbents Scott McKenzie, Syd Thompson and Shelley Hill are seeking to continue serving, while Larsen — who’s also seeking the school position — is hoping to join the board and replace Kost.

Four seats are also available on the West Park Hospital board in Cody and incumbents Howard Thompson, Travis Graham, Peter Sidor and Jen Talich filed for reelection.

Fire districts

On the Powell fire district board, Bear May and Heath Worstell are seeking reelection as directors 3 and 5, respectively, while Scott Bagnell is running for the director 1 position held by Jerry Faxon.

In the Cody fire district, Slim Cook (director 1) is being challenged by Ryan Selk, while Nathan Filener has filed for the seat now held by Jeff Steward (director 3).

Clark fire district directors Larry Denney and Paul Burling are seeking reelection to their positions, and facing competition from James Siemons.

In the Meeteetse fire district, directors Frank Brice Lewis and Ben Anson are unopposed in their bids for reelection.

Cemetery districts

For the Powell area, incumbent Monte McClain plus Tye Henderson and Scott Bagnell have filed for the three open seats on the Crown Hill Cemetery District board. Incumbents Clarence Anderson and John Karst didn’t seek reelection.

In Cody, Cindi Durm, Myles Haines and Rex Hayhurst are each hoping for another term on the Riverside Cemetery District board.

Meanwhile, trustees Jeannine Briggs and Todd Bentley want to continue serving the Bennett Buttes Cemetery District in Clark, with Jerri Sansone seeking the third available position. Meeteetse cemetery district trustees Angie Johnson and Kim Flom similarly want to continue serving their community, with Shawn Christopherson seeking to fill a third seat.

Conservation districts

In the Powell Clarks Fork Conservation District, Regan Smith (rural) and Colby Schaefer (urban) are seeking reelection as supervisors, while Adam Stromberger (at large) is looking to replace outgoing supervisor Anthony Spiering.

Within the Cody Conservation District, three candidates — Alyce Vaughn (rural), Carmen Horne-McIntyre (at large) and Bobbie Holder (urban) — have filed for three available seats on the district board. Horne-McIntyre and Holder are incumbents, while Vaughn is seeking to fill a vacant seat formerly held by Russ Dwyer. He left the board in mid-2025 after receiving a 10-year prison sentence in Montana.

In last week’s primary, voters rejected the Cody district’s proposal to begin collecting a 1 mill property tax. A total of 3,529 voters (64.6%) opposed the new tax, with 1,931 (35.4%) in support.

Unlike the Powell and Cody districts, the Meeteetse Conservation District receives a vote-approved 1 mill levy that funds much of its operations. Shawn Shepperson (rural) and Ben Anson (at large) are seeking reelection to the Meeteetse district’s board, while Lynn Lamb filed for the urban seat held by Tim Morrison.

The Meeteetse Museums also receives a 1 mill property tax levy. Trustees Mary Jane Luther and Allen Doty are running for reelection to the museums’ governing board, while a third seat drew no candidates.

Voters will make their picks during the Nov. 3 general election.