NATCHEZ, Miss. – Adams County supervisors discussed on Monday enlisting former county administrator Joe Murray to return to his old job on an interim basis as they struggle to find someone to hire.
Six months after ousting Angie King as Adams County’s chief administrator and considering applicants, the Board of Supervisors haven’t found a permanent replacement.
Adams County Chancery Clerk Brandi Lewis has been taking on additional administrative duties that King performed before she was ousted in January. Lewis said Monday she’s willing to continue doing this, but supervisors noted the workload increases in the coming months as county officials prepare the annual multimillion-dollar budget for running county government.
King is seeking to unseat Lewis as chancery clerk in the August 8 Democratic primary election.
As Adams County’s five supervisors are also up for re-election, they noted hiring a full-time county administrator now is iffy since that person would face an uncertain future as new supervisors potentially could be elected and want to hire someone else. The new term begins in January.
Supervisor Wes Middleton suggested asking Murray to serve in the interim. Murray retired in 2020 after serving 10 years as county administrator. King then took his place, but the board voted 3-2 in January not to reappoint her as supervisors cited poor management abilities.
After discussing the vacant county administrator’s post during Monday’s meeting, the board closed the public out of further conversations about it.
The county administrator oversees the daily operations of county government, including a $30 million annual budget and about 230 employees under the governance of the five-member county Board of Supervisors.
Middleton said applicants in recent months either backed out of contention or were not qualified. Murray could serve on a part-time basis to help administer county operations, including getting the county budget prepared for the fiscal year that starts in October.
County board President Warren Gaines noted Lewis and board attorney Scott Slover have been taking on more duties without a full-time county administrator. “It’s putting a lot of pressure on everybody,” Gaines said.
As chancery clerk, Lewis oversees an office with a variety of duties, such as handling court documents and land records along with being the county board secretary and treasurer.
In addition to being the board’s legal advisor, Slover has also been acting as city attorney for Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson and the Board of Aldermen in place of Bryan Callaway, who’s been unable to work because of health problems.
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