Commissioner Duties

The Board of County Commissioners is the county's legislative body. It also serves as the chief administrator for several important county operations. Kitsap County is divided into three commissioner districts.

The Board of County Commissioners' primary duty as the county's legislative branch is to match the county's revenue with expenditures in adopting an annual balanced budget for the entire county. Each of the separately elected officials is responsible for adhering to the adopted budgets affecting his/her office. The Board of Commissioners is responsible for the operation of budgets under the control of various appointed department heads.

Also within the legislative capacity, the Commissioners are responsible for adopting, amending, and repealing all county ordinances. These include traffic, zoning, planning and public safety ordinances, as well as any other ordinances concerning the general welfare of the county.

As administrators, the Board of County Commissioners is responsible for all administrative duties of running the county which are not expressly given to any other separately elected offices. These include: public works programs (roads, waste water, solid waste, recycling, engineering, hydraulics); Personnel\Human Services; Health Department; Department of Community Development (planning, building, zoning, Fire Marshal); Central Communication Systems, commonly known as CenCom (9-1-1 and Emergency Management); county parks and recreation systems; and Cooperative Extension.