During its scheduled two-week holiday break, the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners will not meet Thursday, Dec. 22, or Thursday, Dec. 29. During the first two weeks of the New Year, the board’s chairmanship will change, and three board members will begin new 4-year terms.

Chairman Ed Eilert will preside over the board’s first weekly business session in 2023 on Jan. 5, beginning at 9:30 a.m. in the board’s hearing room in the Johnson County Administration Building, 111 S. Cherry St., in downtown Olathe. It will be his final meeting, ending 16 years on the board with the past 12 years as chairman. He did not seek re-election in 2022.   

A public reception in Chairman Eilert’s honor is scheduled from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 6, at the Johnson County Arts and Heritage Center, 8788 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park.

Chairman-Elect Mike Kelly, along with three re-elected members of the board, will take the oath of office during a swearing-in ceremony at 9 a.m. Monday, Jan. 9.  The ceremony, which will take place in the board’s hearing room, will be livestreamed on boccmeetings.jocogov.org and YouTube.

Re-elected county commissioners are:

• Becky Fast for her second four-year term representing the First District since 2019.
• Janeé Hanzlick for her second four-year term representing the Fourth District. She, too, joined the board in 2019.
• Michael Ashcraft for his fourth four-year term representing the Fifth District since 2011.

Chairman-Elect Kelly’s first business session with the board will be Jan. 12, beginning at 9:30 a.m. in the hearing room. A lifelong Johnson County resident, Kelly has served as mayor of Roeland Park for the past four years. He will become the third at-large, publicly elected chairman in Johnson County history under the county’s Home Rule Charter approved in 2000.

Johnson County Government’s Public Information Office will reach out to the media in early January to arrange pool cameras for Chairman Eilert’s last meeting, the swearing-in ceremony and Chairman-Elect Kelly’s first meeting. More information is available by calling the Office of the Board of County Commissioners at 913-715-0430.