Editing Cherokee County, North Carolina (section)

===Government===
Mandated by the laws of the State of North Carolina, Cherokee County is governed by an elected five-member board of commissioners who each serve a four-year term. The board directs the actions of the appointed Cherokee County Manager. The commission, as of 2023, is composed of Ben Adams, Dr. Dan Eichenbaum, Jan Griggs (vice-chair), Randy Phillips, and Cal Stiles (chair). Maria Hass is the clerk to the board and Darryl Brown is the county attorney.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Board of Commissioners |url=https://www.cherokeecounty-nc.gov/322/Board-of-Commissioners |access-date=October 1, 2023 |website=www.cherokeecounty-nc.gov}}</ref> The county annual budget is $63.4 million as of 2025.<ref name=":7">{{Cite news |last=Foster |first=Randy |date=2025-05-14 |title=Taxes, fees flat, no raises in budget proposal |work=[[Cherokee Scout]] |publisher=[[Community Newspapers Inc.]] |location=Murphy, NC |pages=1A, 8A}}</ref>

Cherokee County is a member of the regional [[Councils of governments in North Carolina|Southwestern Commission Council of Governments]].

Cherokee County faces more than $50 million in costs related to lawsuits over its [[North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services|Department of Social Services]] practice of separating children from families with an unlawful form to bypass judicial approval.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Martin |first=Kate |date=August 19, 2021 |title=County wary of lawsuit costs as insurer tries to reduce its liability |url=http://carolinapublicpress.org/47788/county-wary-of-lawsuit-costs-as-insurer-tries-to-reduce-its-liability/ |access-date=March 7, 2022 |website=Carolina Public Press |language=en-US}}</ref>