Judge picks deputy assessor as new Park County assessor

POWELL (WNE) — After a messy, month-long process, Park County has a new interim assessor.

On Friday, a judge passed over a couple of candidates nominated by the local Republican Party and appointed First Deputy Assessor Terry Call to serve as the county’s assessor through 2026. The Republican and longtime Cody area resident worked under Assessor Pat Meyer for the past 14 years. When Meyer retired at the end of December, he hoped to have Call replace him, but not everyone agreed.

The typical process for replacing a county official midterm involves the departing official’s party picking three potential replacements that the county commissioners then choose from. However, after learning of errors that the Park County Republican Party made in selecting its nominees, commissioners turned the decision over to a judge.

The task of picking an interim assessor eventually fell in the lap of Carbon County District Court Judge Dawnessa Snyder, who decided to effectively restart the process.

Rather than limiting the field to the party’s nominees or to those who originally submitted applications to the party, Snyder allowed any qualifying Republicans to put their names in the running.

A total of seven local residents applied — including four of the original six contenders.

In her Friday decision, Snyder did not explain why she picked Call, writing only that she had “given due consideration to the presentations of the candidates.”

This story was published on February 4, 2025.