Series 84139

DESCRIPTION: These minute books record the actions of the county commission, the governing body of the county. The commission (known during the territorial period as the county court) was authorized to manage all county business and property. This includes budgeting, equipment purchasing, and auditing; use of county lands; districting for schools, roads, voting, drainage, etc.; taxing, specifically acting as an ex-officio board of equalization; business licensing; arranging for the construction of roads, public buildings, etc.; contracting for services; supervising the conduct and payment of all county personnel; providing for basic health care, public safety, and care of the indigent; canvassing election returns and appointing certain officials; incorporating municipalities; and by the mid-1960s, zoning and planning.

Following the formation of territorial government, the legislature in 1852 passed acts relating to the formation and government of counties. There were no county commissions, but the probate judge in conjunction with the county selectmen were invested "with the usual powers and jurisdiction of County Commissioners" and as such were known as the county court. The probate court clerk (also known as the county clerk) was to keep the records of the court. With statehood in 1896 an actual board of county commissioners was created. The probate judge was removed, but the selectmen continued serving as commissioners until elections were held. The county clerk remained the clerk of the board, recording the minutes. Minute entries are prefaced by date, names of those present, and where and when the board met.

The commission was authorized to manage all county business and county property. This included auditing all claims against the county and payments by the treasurer. Claims, bids, and annual budgets are a major emphasis throughout the minutes. Treasurer's reports and the financial reports of other departments also are noted. Personnel wage scales, individual salary increases, and departmental purchases from typewriters to a fire truck are discussed and recorded. The commission levied property taxes for county purposes and by the 1880s served as a board of equalization. After statehood in 1896, the commission kept BOARD OF EQUALIZATION MINUTES separately but continued to set mill levies and correct erroneous taxes during commission minutes. By the 1880s, the county was authorized to borrow money and to bond, activities commonly noted at the turn-of-the-century.

The county court controlled all timber and water privileges and could grant mill sites and herd grounds. Salt rights were also controlled by the court in the 1850s. The county could set bounties on varmints and control noxious weeds. Court members created road districts and oversaw the layout of roads, a task noted throughout the minutes. They located sites and oversaw the erection of public buildings, particularly courthouses. Surplus property was sold by the commission. Tax sales are common entries in the minutes from the 1920s into the 1940s. A major addition to county commission functions was made in 1941 when the commission was empowered to provide for the development and zoning of unincorporated areas of the county and to appoint a planning commission. However, the first official planning and zoning resolution took place in 1965.

Commissioners served as canvassers of elections, also appointing election officers, setting the boundaries of voting precincts, and assigning polling places. The county provided for elections to incorporate towns. The county was authorized to license liquor sales in 1860. Business licenses in general were granted by the court beginning in the 1880s. The granting of franchises for such things as telephones, power and gas, and railroads are noted in detail beginning in the 1900s. Commissioners cared for the indigent and oversaw public health and safety. This was done on an individual basis initially, but moved toward formal health and welfare departments later. The commissioners directly appointed numerous officials such as bee inspectors, health officers, county hospital board, senior citizen center advisory board, etc. The supervision of the conduct of all county, district and precinct officials, boards, and agencies is noted in the minutes.

ARRANGEMENT: The series is arranged chronologically by date of meeting.

RESEARCH NOTE: Volume A has some out-of-order entries pertaining to the election and appointment of officials recorded at the beginning before assuming a chronological pattern beginning with December 1854. Books 4 and 6 have "end" targets appearing mid-volume; the volumes do continue on the reel. Book 3 has pages 1 through 33 filmed, then starts over from page 3 to the end.

Given the diversity and extent of the county commission's activities, the minute books should be consulted not only by researchers seeking information on the commission, but by those seeking information on any county agencies, their personnel, or their services to individuals; on private contractors and their plans for work on county projects; on private businesses operating within the unincorporated county limits; and on private individuals or charitable institutions holding taxable or untaxable property within the county. Virtually an person living in, or any activity taking place in, unincorporated areas of Juab county (up to and including the incorporation or disincorporation of municipalities) was affected by the activities of the county commission and is reflected in the minutes.

RELATED RECORDS: While the minute books summarize the meetings of the commission, many other county agencies recorded the particulars. Thus the other holdings of the county commission and Juab county agencies should be consulted. The EQUALIZATION MINUTES (series 17503) record the hearings of the county commission when meeting as a board of equalization after 1896, minutes included here before statehood and continued in these minutes as a lesser topic after statehood.

FINDING AIDS: From 1896 to 1910, the volumes have partial alphabetical subject indexes at the beginning.

PROCESSING NOTE: The Juab County Clerk as secretary for the Juab County Commission may have current holdings. Original paper copy may be held in the office. Filming was begun in 1966 by the LDS Genealogical Society and continued by the county in the 1980s. The series was processed by A.C. Cone in March 1996. Reel 1 was cut in two so that the volumes would appear in chronological order. A volume of county audits was removed from the middle of another reel.

GAPS IN THE SERIES: There are few entries from 1852 to 1854. Volume "B" or "2" from 1859 to 1887 is missing.

CONTAINER LIST