How Hillsdale County Fair Blocked Membership to Control the Board
By The Hillsdale Conservatives
(4-H families, open-class exhibitors, and Hillsdale County residents have also been denied)
We went to the Hillsdale County Fair office with ten dollars—the same way membership has always worked. We were refused. Instead of taking dues and issuing cards, staff pushed “applications” for board review and told people to leave. When we cited the Agricultural Society Act and the Fair’s own published rule, 911 was called on county residents standing at a service window.
This didn’t just happen to us. 4-H parents, open-class exhibitors, and unaffiliated neighbors were also denied membership the same way. The pattern is obvious: change the intake rules on the spot, keep new members from enrolling before the 30-day voting cutoff, and hold the board.
What We Saw (and Recorded)
- Multiple residents—us included—tendered $10 and were refused.
- Staff required a new “application” that goes to the board instead of accepting dues.
- After we cited the law and the Fair’s own membership rule, we were ordered to leave and police were called.
- Members of the Hillsdale Conservatives along with 4-H families, open-class participants, and unaffiliated residents reported the same refusal over the past few weeks.
- Our video shows the refusal and the “application” requirement. (Video attached in article.)
We are not speculating. We documented it.
What Their Own Rule Says (and What It Now Means)
The Fair’s published membership rule is simple: pay $10 → you’re a member, and if you want to vote, your dues must be paid 30+ days before the annual meeting. That long-standing practice—confirmed by past and present board members—was replaced this year, without member notice or vote, by a board-controlled application wall.
Effect: If the office won’t accept dues, new members can’t clear the 30-day deadline. That shrinks the electorate in advance and preserves the status quo. Basically, manipulating the board election.
This is not “neutral policy.” It is functional disenfranchisement.
Why We Call This Corrupt
- Process switched at the window. The Fair did not announce a member-approved bylaw change; it just refused dues and imposed a board gate no one had seen before.
- Targets the timeline that decides elections. Blocking timely enrollment alters who can vote, which alters who controls the board.
- Same election manipulation we’ve seen elsewhere. In sworn testimony from the August 12–13, 2025 court proceedings, the county clerk—by the clerk’s own admissions reflected in transcripts—acknowledged conduct affecting the integrity of election records. Transcripts for this have been published in our past article https://hillsdaleconservatives.com/2025/09/18/__trashed-2/
We are drawing a straight line: when officials change rules to control who gets to participate, that is manipulation of an election in substance, if not in name. What happened at the Fair window is the same logic—use position to manipulate the electorate, keep the power.
What We Were Thrown Out For
We were removed from the fairgrounds earlier this season while sharing public information with the community, information the public has the right to see and discuss. The Board President claimed “rules were violated”, yet when pressed, refused to name any. Now the board itself doesn’t follow its own rule for membership. The hypocrisy speaks for itself.
Where Are the Sheriff and Prosecutor?
Michigan law assigns duties here. The Sheriff and Prosecutor have not opened a good-faith investigation into the clerk’s admitted conduct. That refusal to act, despite clear statutory duties—erodes trust and enables the same rule-bending logic now being used at the Fair office. Coincidently, the Board President is the Undersheriff!
(If either office has initiated a bona fide investigation, we welcome public confirmation and will publish it.)
Status Quo in Hillsdale County
- If a board can refuse dues and screen applicants until after the voting cutoff, it controls who counts.
- If law enforcement won’t enforce the law when admissions are on the record, power holders learn they can change rules without consequences.
- If residents sharing public information are the ones removed, speech becomes a privilege granted by the very people being criticized.
That is how communities lose self-government—slowly, procedurally, and always “just this once.”
What We’re Demanding—Right Now
- Accept the $10 and issue cards immediately to every eligible resident who tenders dues.
- Back-date enrollment to the first tender date for everyone who was refused, so the 30-day voting right isn’t stolen.
- If bylaws truly changed, publish: (a) the member notice given 30+ days in advance, (b) the exact amendment text, and (c) the membership vote record.
- Cease removals and 911 calls on residents who are lawfully asserting membership rights and sharing public information.
- Sheriff and Prosecutor: Announce an investigation into the clerk’s admitted conduct in the August 2025 proceedings and report publicly on steps taken.
How Residents Can Help (Simple and Lawful)
- Bring $10 to the office. Say: “I’m an eligible resident tendering $10 membership dues.”
- If refused, calmly ask for the refusal in writing and the bylaw being applied. Note names, date/time, and any posted language.
- Email the Fair the same day summarizing the refusal and re-tender payment by certified mail (enclose a check).
- Add your account to the community log; attach any video.
- Share this article so neighbors can inform themselves and get involved in getting Hillsdale County Fair back to being The Most Popular Fair on Earth..
in liberty,
The Hillsdale Conservitives
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