D-1 Commissioner Baker ready to make an impact
RUSSELLVILLE — When Curtis Baker is sworn in as Franklin County District 1 commissioner in November, he plans to hit the ground running on day one.
After he takes his oath of office, Baker said he intends to sit down with each department head to get a feel for where things currently stand and which direction they are headed.
“I want to talk with them about what they need and where there may be a need for reorganization and things like that,” Baker said. “I want to be as prepared as possible before I get into office.”
Baker defeated incumbent Grayson Murray in the June 16 runoff election by securing 54% of the vote to take the Republican nomination. Since there is no Democrat running for the position on the opposite side of the ballot, Baker automatically takes the seat.
Baker says he has a plethora of core areas he wants to address when he takes office. Among the priorities will be filling out the open positions in the county’s school resource officer (SRO) program.
Currently, Baker said there are a couple of schools without SROs but declined to specify which ones citing caution and security concerns. He said he plans to work with his fellow commissioners to ensure each school has at least one SRO on campus while classes are in session.
“The SRO issue will have to be hashed out between the commission and the sheriff’s office,” Baker said. “But I think everyone is on the same page when it comes to that.”
One issue he heard frequently from constituents while out on the campaign trail is the need for mowing and trimming along the medians and rights-ofway along county roads. Baker said he intends to seek grant money to help rectify the problem.
“I’ve already had a conversation with the (county) engineer about that since the election and we have a feel for how we’re going to handle that,” Baker said. “We’re going to try and get that ball rolling as soon as we possibly can.”
Since neither candidate received 51% of the vote during the May primary election, Baker and Murray headed to the runoff — which ultimately meant an extra month of campaigning.
Baker said he knew Murray would have a large swath of support inside the Russellville city limits, so he attempted to make his impact outside the county seat — a strategy that ultimately paid off.
“I’ve worked with and done business with people from all over the county and I tried to play into that,” Baker said. “I knew if I could hold my own in Russellville and do well on top of the (Spruce Pine) mountain and the western end of the county, I could do it.”
While it was a tall task to ask those closest to him to go through another month of putting out signs and covering all four corners of the county, Baker said those volunteers played a huge role in his victory.
“Campaigns are long and difficult on everybody involved,” Baker said. “But my family and friends stuck with me the entire way and we managed to get it done.”
As for the man he is replacing, Murray, 21, will exit the seat he was appointed to by Gov. Kay Ivey after his father, Michael, passed away in May 2025.
Following last Tuesday’s results, Baker said he spoke with Murray and offered the young candidate any help or assistance as he tries to carve out his own path in life.
“There was never any ill-will in this campaign, and I think so highly of Grayson,” Baker said. “This campaign was never about me or him; it was about the people of Franklin County.”
