County Administration

Strategic planning

Garfield County sets priorities, policy directives, strategies, and priorities under direction of the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) that promote the county’s mission to deliver quality services to the citizens of Garfield County. Key priorities are identified by the BOCC through annual budget public hearings. These are in addition to the department and office initiatives, work plans, and programs currently underway and day-to-day operations and services provided to the community. The strategic planning process is adaptive as resident needs change, and focuses on:

• Infrastructure and investment
• Health and human services
• Community outreach and transparency
• Federal state and local policy
• Economic development
• Organizational, core and internal services

Garfield County 2021 policy directives

Kevin Batchelder, County manager

The county manager’s role is to implement the Board of County Commissioners’ policies and priorities, balancing an annual budget of more than $101.7 million, and overseeing service delivery to this western Colorado county of more than 60,000 residents.

Kevin Batchelder has served as county manager since December of 2015. He administers day-to-day operations of county’s administrative departments.  The County Manager serves the citizens of Garfield County by working to implement the policies of the Board of County Commissioners, and by managing a large organization that provides quality services to the citizens of Garfield County. Garfield County administration supports the county’s other elected officials.

Batchelder has a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Colorado State University and a Master of Arts degree in public affairs from the University of Minnesota. He has more than three decades of public administration experience. He is a member of the International City/County Management Association. He is also a member of the Association of Colorado County Administrators, for which he was awarded the ACCA County Administrator of the Year in November of 2020.

Garfield County organizational chart

Administration and Commissioners’ staff

Vickie Suminski, Administrative Assistant
Email contact form
970-945-5004
970-945-7785 – fax