The Union County Quorum Court briefly convened Friday morning to appoint a new Treasurer to serve the county for the rest of the year.
Before the new Treasurer could be voted on and sworn in, Justices of the Peace had to declare a vacancy in the office.
Up until Wednesday, the position had been held by Lexie Kelley, who was appointed to the job on May 26, following the May 19 retirement of Debbie Ray, who had served as Treasurer for 12 years.
Kelley lost a bid to take on the role more permanently in the Republican primary elections that same month, when she faced Jody Cunningham, currently administrative assistant to the county judge.
Cunningham said in May that appointees cannot run for election immediately following their appointment, so she would not have been able to run for the office she'll take in January if she'd been appointed to fill out the remainder of Ray's term.
On Friday, Kelley said in a text message to a News-Times reporter that she notified County Judge Mike Loftin and state auditors of her resignation Wednesday morning.
"I made sure my office was up to date on all records, deposits and spreadsheets," she said.
Kelley also lodged several complaints about her five months in the position. She said a new administrative assistant for the county judge was paid out of the treasurer's budget without approval, and that she'd been left working alone in the office since Sept. 16, while a coworker was out family and medical leave.
"I was never respected as the appointed Treasurer for the last five months," Kelley said in the message. "I was also told that my position would not be there as of January 2023. I'm a single mother raising 3 children and I need continuous employment to support my family. So, I chose to seek employment elsewhere."
Union County Judge Mike Loftin couldn't be reached for comment Friday afternoon.
On Friday, present JPs first approved a resolution declaring a vacancy in the Treasurer's Office.
After that, District 1 JP Mike Dumas read a second resolution that would appoint Misti Conley, who Cunningham on Thursday said was a deputy in the treasurer's office, to the position. Her appointment was also unanimously approved by JPs at Friday's meeting.
Conley, who attended the meeting with her newborn daughter Gretta, took her oath of office after the resolution was approved. Judge Spencer Singleton swore her in.
Dumas also noted that Cunningham will begin doing some work in the Treasurer's office, but that she will continue to be paid from the county judge's office's budget.
"We need to go on record saying that there are times when Misti can't be in the office – she has this new baby that she must bring up – (so) there will be times when Jody will have to use the stamp and stamp her initials," Dumas said.
"It needs to be in the (meeting) minutes," Loftin added.
Present JPs unanimously authorized Cunningham's work in the Treasurer's office.
After the meeting, Cunnginham said she would split her time about 50-50 between the Treasurer's office and County Judge's.
"The main thing I'm going to be doing is signing the checks; if Misti is not ever there, their vote today gave me the authority to stamp her name and get our accounts payable and checks out," she said.
Conley will be paid $2,461.54 per pay period through her term, which will end on Dec. 31.