Albany County committee confirms Shannon Cofield as human resources commissioner

Shannon Cofield was confirmed by the Albany County Personnel Committee as commissioner of the Department of Human Resources after the committee voted by voice during a 2025 meeting.

Cofield, who has been serving in Albany County in several roles including deputy commissioner and acting commissioner, told the committee she brings experience in labor relations, training and development, and employee engagement. She summarized private-sector experience with ShopRite Supermarkets, saying she helped open five stores and hire about 2,000 employees, and described initiatives on recruitment, retention and active open enrollment for county benefits. "It's not about who's right, it's about what's right," Cofield said when outlining her approach.

Member Grube pressed for greater transparency, noting a standing committee resolution requires salary information for nominees to appear in the RLA and that the salary for this appointment was not listed. A presenter apologized and said the omission was an oversight and that the salary information would be provided to the committee after the meeting.

During questioning, members asked about support staff and whether a deputy recruitment would be run. Committee discussion confirmed no recruitment had begun while Cofield served in an acting capacity; the county said it would conduct a public solicitation through job platforms including Indeed, the civil service portal and LinkedIn to fill any deputy role.

Member Eazier moved to confirm Cofield, and after a second the committee approved the nomination by voice vote. The record shows the motion passed; specific roll-call tallies were not provided in the transcript.

The committee’s next action was to proceed to the public defender nomination on the agenda.