Stu Rhodes has previous experience on the City-County Council as he served for 16 years during the years 1980 to 1996. For 12 of those years, he was the Chairman of the Administration Committee and for 8 years he was a member of the Public Works Committee. Following his 4 terms, Rhodes was the Chief Financial Officer for the City-County Council through the year 2000. He currently works as a Local Government Consultant for his own firm.

In the past, Rhodes has been very active with both National Association of Counties (NACo) and the Association of Indiana Counties (AIC). He served on the Board of Directors for the NACo for 6 years as well as was a chairman of two committees and vice-chairman for two other committees. During his involvement with the AIC, Rhodes has served as the President, Vice President, and Treasurer and also served on the Board of Directors and the Legislative Committee.