Editing Saline County, Kansas (section)

==Government==

===Board of Commissioners===
Saline County is governed by a [[County commission|Board of Commissioners]]. The commission enacts the annual budget for the county, currently set at about $38,000,000, creates policy to be implemented by the county administrator, approves contracts, and oversees legislation relating to the health, safety, and well-being of the county's citizens.<ref name="Board of Commissioners">{{cite web|url=http://www.saline.org/Commissioners/tabid/1200/Default.aspx|title=Saline County - Board of Commissioners|publisher=Saline County, Kansas|access-date=January 21, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330122640/http://www.saline.org/Commissioners/tabid/1200/Default.aspx|archive-date=March 30, 2012}}</ref>

The Board of Commissioners has three members, one elected from each of the three commission districts. Commissioners are elected on a partisan basis.<ref name="Board of Commissioners"/> The districts are [[reapportionment|reapportioned]] every three years, with the three districts being equally populated. Term lengths are four years.<ref name="Board of Commissioners"/>

Current representatives on the Board of Commissioners are John Price (District 3; vice chairman), Monte Shadwick (District 1; secretary), and Jim Gile (District 2; chairman).<ref name="Board of Commissioners"/>
In 2014, citizens voted to change the number of commissioners from three to five. The group, “Drive for Five”, successfully campaigned for better representation of the people. Monte Shadwick defeated incumbent commissioner Randy Duncan, who finished last in a three-way race.<ref>{{cite web |title=Saline County Commission To Change |url=https://www.ksal.com/saline-county-commission-to-change/ |publisher=[[KSAL-FM]] |access-date=February 1, 2023 |date=August 5, 2014}}</ref>

Governor [[Sam Brownback]] was tasked with appointing the two new commission members that will serve for two years and then be up for election by the people. On January 12, 2015, Luci Larson and Dave Smith were appointed to the newly created 4th and 5th Districts.<ref>{{cite web|title=New commissioners respond to county issues|url=https://www.salina.com/story/news/local/2015/01/05/new-commissioners-respond-to-county/21153502007/|last=Horan|first=Tim|website=Salina Journal|date=January 4, 2015}}</ref>

===County administrator===
The county administrator is hired by the Board of Commissioners and is the administrative officer for the county. The administrator is responsible for researching administrative and operational issues and then presenting suggestions for improvement in government efficiency to the Board of Commissioners and for reviewing all requests for action brought to the Board of Commissioners. The county administrator also implements policies enacted by the Board of Commissioners, prepares the annual budget, and "supervises accounts payable, payroll, human resource division and central purchasing for the county."<ref name="County administrator">{{cite web|url=http://www.saline.org/AdministrationDepartment/Administrator/tabid/1184/Default.aspx|title=Administrator|publisher=Saline County, Kansas|access-date=January 21, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120430175658/http://www.saline.org/AdministrationDepartment/Administrator/tabid/1184/Default.aspx|archive-date=April 30, 2012}}</ref> As needed, the county administrator will represent the county on boards and commissions.<ref name="County administrator"/>

The current county administrator is Andrew Manley.<ref name="County administrator"/>

===Presidential elections===
{{Hidden
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|contentcss = text-align: left; font-size: 100%; width: 100%;
|header     = Presidential election results
|content    =
{{PresHead|place=Saline County, Kansas|source=<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS|title = Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Republican|15,069|7,734|521|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|2020|Republican|15,722|8,214|688|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|2016|Republican|13,828|6,317|1,919|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|2012|Republican|13,840|7,040|616|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|2008|Republican|14,165|8,186|437|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|2004|Republican|15,111|7,524|406|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|2000|Republican|12,412|7,487|1,628|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|1996|Republican|12,475|7,728|2,338|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|1992|Republican|8,565|7,890|7,168|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|1988|Republican|11,371|7,998|249|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|1984|Republican|15,244|6,526|191|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|1980|Republican|12,758|6,382|2,029|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|1976|Republican|11,218|8,476|413|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|12,592|5,406|321|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|1968|Republican|9,324|6,286|1,212|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|6,533|9,725|99|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|1960|Republican|11,023|6,495|50|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|1956|Republican|11,172|4,908|37|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|1952|Republican|12,326|4,003|80|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|1948|Republican|7,928|6,798|194|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|1944|Republican|7,571|5,097|55|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|1940|Republican|7,975|6,514|92|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|6,061|7,872|50|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|5,265|7,118|389|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|1928|Republican|7,872|3,108|76|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|1924|Republican|6,534|1,966|2,005|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|1920|Republican|5,554|2,808|260|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|1916|Democratic|3,984|4,860|368|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|1912|Democratic|534|2,263|1,994|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|1908|Republican|2,297|2,134|149|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|1904|Republican|2,797|798|381|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|1900|Republican|2,245|2,199|76|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|1896|Democratic|1,706|2,334|21|Kansas}}
{{PresRow|1892|Populist|1,817|0|2,206|Kansas}}
{{PresFoot|1888|Republican|2,263|1,186|455|Kansas}}
}}<!-- End of Hidden template -->

Saline County is a Republican stronghold: the last Democrat to win a majority in the county was Lyndon Johnson in 1964, who was also the last Democrat to carry the state's electoral votes. Saline has voted for the statewide winner in every presidential election since 1872, including for [[James B. Weaver|James Weaver]] in 1892.<ref>The Political Graveyard: [http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/KS/SA-votes.html Saline County, Kansas]</ref>

===Laws===
The county voted "No" on the [[2022 Kansas abortion referendum]], an anti-abortion ballot measure, by 55% to 45% despite backing [[Donald Trump]] with 64% of the vote to [[Joe Biden]]'s 33% in the [[2020 United States presidential election|2020 presidential election]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/14-out-19-counties-that-rejected-kansas-anti-abortion-measure-backed-trump-2022-8|title=14 of the 19 Kansas counties that rejected an anti-abortion amendment voted for Trump in 2020|publisher=Business Insider|last=Panetta|first=Grace|date=August 3, 2022|access-date=August 3, 2022}}</ref>