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Putman Family Planning Legal Action Over Road Issues
Mary Drier/Mike Kaufman
Thu, 26 Feb 2026 21:22:18 EST
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During Thursday's Tuscola County Board of Commissioners' meeting, the issues between county commissioners and the Tuscola County Road Commission Board continued.
County commission Chair Kim Vaughan, who has long advocated for changes to the road commission board, is planning on having two public hearings regarding the road commission at 7 p.m. on April 1 and April 7.
Vaughan has done extensive research on ways to replace the members on the road commission board and/or to have the road board dissolved, or to have the county board of commissioners oversee the road department's operations.
To take either of those actions, conducting two public hearings is a necessary first step.
The power struggle between the two county entities is over who has control of roads.
County commissioners approved placing additional signals at six intersections. When the road commission didn't do that, the county ordered the signals on their own to get them installed.
At that point, the road commission then hired a lawyer to sue county commissioners if they did that.
During the meeting, when commissioners were talking about the road commission not providing basic financial information, the road commission's lawyer stepped forward explaining that cannot be done because of a planned lawsuit against the road board.
Billy Putman and family filed notice they are planning to sue the road commission, some county department heads, Ellington Township, and others.
Billy Putman had three family members killed and three others badly injured at the intersection of Deckerville and Hurds Corner roads when a semi-truck ran a stop sign.
Since then, he has advocated for additional warning signals to the stop sign at that intersection and the five others.
