Pine County honors Pam Lawrence after 31 years in auditor-treasurer's office

Pam Lawrence was honored at the Pine County Board meeting ahead of her retirement next Friday after 31 years with the county. County Auditor-Treasurer Kelly Schroeder introduced Lawrence and reviewed her service history, noting Lawrence began work for Pine County on March 14, 1994.

Schroeder told the board Lawrence worked through multiple office changes, including the courthouse move and the later consolidation of the auditor and treasurer offices. Schroeder said Lawrence handled payroll, elections and other office tasks methodically through changes in systems and procedures, including recent transitions to electronic invoice submission and a modern property-tax system.

Lawrence thanked the county and said, "Thank you, Pine County, for the opportunity to serve you and be a part of this for the last 31 years." The board presented Lawrence with a clock as a retirement gift; the transcript notes she paid the bill for that clock earlier, which drew laughter at the meeting.

Why it matters: Long-serving county staff provide institutional knowledge for administrative functions such as payroll, property tax processing and elections; the board publicly recognized her service and the office will proceed with routine succession or staffing adjustments.

No formal personnel actions were recorded at the meeting beyond the recognition and presentation of a retirement gift.