San Juan County to Seek Letters of Interest to Fill Sheriff Vacancy
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Summary
After an executive-session briefing on legal options related to Sheriff Conrad's resignation, the Board voted to advertise a letters-of-interest process and hold public interviews rather than automatically appointing the undersheriff to serve until the November election.
San Juan County commissioners voted to seek letters of interest and conduct public interviews to fill the temporary vacancy in the sheriff’s office.
Chair (Speaker 4) summarized options discussed in executive session, saying state statute allows an interim appointment of the undersheriff until the next general election but that the board could instead solicit applicants and hold interviews in public work sessions. Commissioner Speaker 2 moved to advertise a letter of interest that would include the statutory qualifications for the office; Speaker 4 seconded the motion and the board recorded aye votes.
The board emphasized that the appointment process is not an HR hiring action but the filling of an elected office subject to state statute. Commissioners repeatedly noted any interim appointee would still be required to run in the November general election if they wished to remain in office. Several commissioners said they favored a short, streamlined letters-of-interest process in order to be fair to multiple candidates while avoiding an unduly long selection timeline.
Next steps: staff (referred to in the discussion as Willie) was directed to publish a letter of interest with statutory qualification language and to receive letters of interest and schedule public interviews in work-session format. The board did not allow public comment on this agenda item during the meeting.
The board recorded the motion to advertise a letter of interest as passed; implementation details and timelines will be set by staff and returned to the board for scheduling of interviews.
