Cole County Public Administrator Joe Kuensting has resigned.
Cole County Presiding Commissioner Sam Bushman confirmed Kuensting sent a letter to the commission May 29 announcing his intention to step down Monday.
The letter, obtained by the News Tribune, reads: "Effective midnight June 1st, 2020, I'm resigning as Cole County Public Administrator. As I was not seeking re-election, the circumstances of the past several months, my family's health and lives are more important than completing the remainder of this term."
Kuensting announced in February that he would not seek re-election, saying at the time he needed to focus on family matters.
The News Tribune was unable to reach Kuensting by phone Thursday.
His attorney, Scott Evans, said Kuensting had intended to finish his term but was unable to do so for personal reasons.
The public administrator is a publicly elected officer who is the guardian of last resort for those who cannot take care of themselves and have no one else to watch out for their needs and interests.
Presiding Judge Pat Joyce, who oversees the cases where the public administrator has been appointed, said Deputy Public Administrator Theresa Valdez is serving as guardian for those cases until the commission appoints a new public administrator.
Bushman said the matter is on the agenda for the commission's regular meeting Tuesday.
State statute allows for the commission to pick an interim administrator, County Attorney Jill Lahue said. The commission already has notified Gov. Mike Parson's office of the situation; state statute calls for the governor to make the final appointment to the office.
Ralph Jobe filed to run as a Republican for the office in this fall's election; no other candidates filed. Lahue said state statute does not allow for reopening candidate filing for an office.
Jobe is a former mayor of Taos and has served as president of the Board of Directors for the Liberty Senior Citizens Inc.
Jobe said he believes his administrative experience on the board and his interaction with residents have made him aware of the needs of seniors and others in the county who need a sponsor for assistance and care.
Bushman said Jobe has told him he will end his current job at the end of the month and the commission plans to appoint him as interim public administrator effective July 1. The governor will still have the final say of who will be appointed to the office.
Bushman noted there was no indication of any misappropriation of funds while Kuensting was in office.
Kuensting was elected to office in 2016 as a Republican.
Last April, a former employee sued Kuensting for wrongful termination. Rebekah Schollmeyer claimed she was dismissed from her job as an administrative assistant Nov. 13, 2018.
Schollmeyer, through attorney Rod Chapel, also alleged Kuensting was derelict in discharging his duties in a number of ways, including failure to make the minimum one visit per year to at least 28 of his wards, placing them at risk for abuse or neglect; submitting false or incorrectly prepared statements to the probate section of the Cole County Circuit Court; allowing employees to claim unworked time as though they had worked; and mismanaging an office "in chaos" where work piled up instead of getting done in a timely manner, resulting in waste of taxpayer money.
That case remains pending, with Judge Joyce assigned to the case. There is no court date for the case listed in online case records.