PUTNAM COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) - Last week, Putnam County Commissioner Steve Deweese entered a plea agreement. He was accused of misusing $4,000 during his eight years as a county sheriff.
Commission President Andy Skidmore said he was handed a resignation letter last Tuesday.
“Whatever transgressions that were investigated were not of his time as a county commissioner; they were of his time as an elected sheriff,” Skidmore said.
At Tuesday night’s meeting, Commissioner Skidmore and Brian Ellis decided to open applications for the vacant position. Skidmore said they wanted to keep the process open and transparent.
“By code, commissioner Ellis and I could just simply appoint somebody, but people have reached out to us. We know there are people that are interested, but it’s important for us to have this application process or this opportunity to submit resumes because there may be somebody out there that we don’t know.”
Applications open on Wednesday and will remain open for two weeks. Skidmore said they will conduct interviews at their next meeting on Dec. 17, hoping to prevent another sudden resignation.
“An interview and a resume only go so far, but it gives us a chance to get to know somebody because we are three individuals, but we work together as a group,” he said.
Commissioners said an applicant must be a registered Republican and live in the same district as the former commissioner.
“It’s going to be important to have somebody that can come in, not necessarily vote the way we do but to want to push the county in the direction that we feel like we’re headed,” Skidmore said.
According to Skidmore, if they can’t come to an agreement on a new commissioner in 30 days, the Republican Executive Committee would pick three names for the commissioners to choose from. The newly appointed commissioner would serve until 2026, with the opportunity to run again.
Putnam County commissioners said they will take applications until Dec. 11 and will post information on their Facebook on Wednesday, Nov. 27.
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