On July 6, longtime elected Saline County Auditor Tara Vogelsmeier resigned her position, effective immediately.

The next day, the Saline County Commission appointed and swore in deputy auditor Sandra Walter to be auditor until the appointment comes from Governor Mike Parson to fill the position for the rest of this calendar year. However, Walter resigned as interim auditor during the commission meeting on August 13. When doing so, she said she would in effect demote herself back to her position of deputy auditor.

However, according to the commissioners, “when she accepted the swearing in as auditor, she vacated the position of deputy auditor. And because a county official cannot hold two positions at the same time, when she resigned (as interim auditor), she resigned completely.”

The commissioners say they called the Governor’s office, and it is still about two weeks away from making an appointment as auditor. “We had an emergency meeting with the county clerk and treasurer to determine how to make sure our county is still running with payroll and payables. We’re a Class 4 County operating as a Class 2, so we’re possibly going to issue a judge’s order or a commission order to bypass the auditor’s signature until one is appointed by the Governor.”

The commission says Saline County is a Class 4 County, and it doesn’t require an auditor. But Saline County has been operating as a Class 2 County since the late 80s because of the addition of the auditor position.

Commissioners say a transfer of funds that was requested by the commission from one fund to another regarding the project at the Marshall Junction still has not taken place.