Board Member Biographical Information
Karen Powell
Chairperson
Appointed by Governor Schweitzer in 2006, and reappointed in 2008, Karen Powell serves as Chairwoman of the Tax Appeal Board. Karen previously served as the Montana Deputy State Auditor (Commissioner of Insurance and Securities). Powell has also worked as Montana Deputy Securities Commissioner and as an Assistant Attorney General in the State of Montana Attorney General's Office. She received her bachelor's degree from Wesleyan University and her juris doctorate from Stanford Law School. She has practiced law in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, Montana Supreme Court, Montana District Court, and is authorized to practice in the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Court.
Appointed by Montana's Legislative Council, Karen also serves as one of Montana's three Uniform Law Commissioners.
Email: doastab@mt.gov
Address: P.O. Box 200138 Capitol Station Helena MT 59620-0138
Phone: (406) 444-2720
Term of Appointment: July 15, 2006 - January 1, 2009
Reappointment: January 1, 2009 - January 1, 2015
Samantha Sanchez
Samantha Sanchez, B.A., J.D., was appointed to the State Tax Appeal Board by Governor Schweitzer in November 2009. Before joining the Board, she was co-founder and director of the National Institute on Money in State Politics, a national non-partisan group promoting transparency in elections, based in Helena. Before moving to Montana, she taught federal income taxation, tax policy and contract law at Catholic University Law School in Washington, D.C. for 15 years and also served as associate dean for 6 of those years. Prior to that she was a staff attorney on the Senate Finance Committee, Washington, D.C.
Email: doastab@mt.gov
Address: P.O. Box 200138 Capitol Station Helena MT 59620-0138
Phone: (406) 444-2720
Term of Appointment: November 2, 2009 - January 6, 2011
Reappointment: January 6, 2011 - January 1, 2017
Doug Kaercher
Havre - Qualification: public representative Kaercher has served as a Hill County Commissioner since 1997. He is a past president of the Montana Association of Counties and also served on the boards of the Golden Triangle Community Mental Health Center and Bear Paw Development Corporation, as well as the Public Defender Commission. Prior to becoming a county commissioner, Kaercher was on the Havre City Council and the Hill County Study Commission, and was involved with Topflight Properties and Burnham Farms Inc. of Havre. He studied at the Helena College of Technology as an aviation maintenance technician.
E-mail: doastab@mt.gov
Address: P.O. Box 200138 Capitol Station Helena MT 59620-0138
Phone: (406) 444-2720
Term of Appointment: March 1, 2007 - January 1, 2013
