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ELKINS -- The Randolph County Commission elected Cris Siler as president for 2024, and approved appointments to the Jail Restoration Committee during its regular meeting Thursday at the James F. Cain Courthouse Annex.
Siler was elected to the county commission in November 2022 and will replace David Kesling, who served as president for the past year. Commissioner Chris See and Kesling voted for Siler, who will officially become president on Jan. 1.
Kesling spoke about several of the commission's accomplishments achieved while he served as president this year.
"I think we did a lot over the past year, from the pool project to the moving of the prosecuting attorney's office," Kesling said. "We also have a bunch of grant money coming in, and we now have PRO officers in three high schools in the county. We have accomplished a lot this past year."
Kesling said that the commission already has a lot on its plate for 2024, including the restoration of the former Randolph County Jail.
"We have a lot going on next year," he said. "We have the new judge's office that we have to work on and the revamping of the old county jail. There's also other grants we are trying to do for the current courthouse, because we want to continue to improve that 100-year structure and keep it around for another 100 years."
Kesling said the commission will also strive to take care of the county's employees moving forward, and is excited for what 2024 will bring.
"We had a lot going on this year, but we all always give back to the county," Kesling said. "I really appreciate everything we did last year and I'm looking forward to serving as a regular commissioner in 2024."
Earlier in the meeting, Kesling talked more about the restoration of the jail and what steps the commission had to take in moving forward with that project.
"We have sent out an expression of interest for any architect firm who may be interested in helping us design the restoration of the old county jail," Kesling said. "Once complete, that facility will be for the new commission and court security offices… We want to get that project done so we can get the new judge in this building before 2025."
Kesling said in order for the commission to move forward with the jail's restoration, a committee must be appointed to oversee the project.
All three commissioners were selected to the Jail Restoration Committee, and will be joined by Brooke Hinzman (RCC administrative assistant), Angela Corbit (RCC administrative assistant) and Mark Howell (RC court security).
"This is going to be a nice project and we've met with one firm already and walked through the building," Kesling said. "They said if they were selected they could have construction start as soon as possible. There's several companies in the area that would love to do that project. We are very excited to bring that old building back to life."