Reply #9: Commission sees it as a resignation and doesn't want to revoke it. [View All]

[JimDandy]

The Emery County commissioners have said Bruce Funk's verbal resignation to them was an official resignation. Their stance seems to be that once he tendered a resignation, whether written or not, Bruce did not have the option of revoking it, only they did. And, although he has asked to have it revoked, they have refused to do so.

In addition, the county attorney, David Blackwell, refused to provided him representation in his official capacity as county clerk. Funk made that request to the county attorney twice, prior to his last day on the job. As I understand it, Mr. Blackwell has stated in a letter to Funk that he will need to represent the county should Mr. Funk file suit. Bruce has retained a private attorney at this point, and if he has not yet filed suit, is intending to shortly.

The county attorney's office isn't legally precluded from representing both parties in a county government dispute. If both parties are county employees, I can't see why Blackwell's office couldn't provide a separate attorney for each party. From my view point as an outsider, it appears to be more of a case of "I don't want to, even though I should." on the part of the county attorney.

Here is one real 'for instance', in Utah, in which a county attorney's office has provided representation to two different county governmental entities who were opposing each other:

A taxpayer disputes his county assessor's assessed value on his home and appeals that assessment to the county council as allowed to by law, in Utah. After hearing the taxpayer's pleadings, the council agrees with the taxpayer's arguments and reduces the assessed value on the home and thereby reduces the taxes the taxpayer owes on his property for that tax year. The assessor's office disagrees with the reduction in value and files suit at the Utah State Tax Commission. The county attorney's office provides a separate attorney to represent each county government agency at the Tax Commission hearing.

Due to the dynamics between the various parties in Emery County, though, were I Bruce, I would not have wanted representation from the county attorney, in this instance. His financial situation (very small county with a correspondingly small clerk's salary) made it necessary for him to inquire about the possibility, though!

JD