Hiring of Douglas auditor under scrutiny

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The Douglas County state’s attorney is investigating a potential open meetings law violation after a complaint was filed Monday regarding the hiring of a new county auditor.

Craig Parkhurst said he received a complaint from County Auditor Diane Christensen about a possible violation Monday morning. If he finds the violation has merit, his options involve prosecuting a violation himself or sending a complaint to the attorney general’s office or Open Meetings Commission.

“I’ve directed the sheriff to take statements of anybody that has knowledge of the events,” he said, adding he’ll get a copy of minutes from the last meeting on Sept. 7. “That might be relevant. We’ll go from there.”

Christensen said Monday that Karen Blume, the county commission chairwoman from Armour, had told her and the deputy auditor on Sept. 20 that the auditor’s position had been filled.

Christensen said she had not been asked to put the hiring of a new auditor on today’s commission agenda or schedule a special meeting for commissioners to discuss hiring a new auditor or interviewing candidates.

Commissioners went into executive session at the last meeting and only acted on Christensen’s resignation. She did not know if commissioners discussed hiring her replacement in executive session.

“When she came in last Monday and announced this, I was kind of surprised,” Christensen said of Blume.

Christensen is leaving because her husband took a job with Oglala Tribal College in Kyle. Her last day will be around Nov. 12 after staying to work during the general election.

Blume declined to comment Monday. She said on Sept. 15 that commissioners were considering possibilities for replacing Christensen that included hiring Deputy Auditor Kim Huebner or advertising for the position. At that time, she said the board hadn’t determined which avenue to pursue.

Gary Denke, who was the third-place vote getter in the four-person county auditor’s race in June, said Monday he called Blume two weeks ago to express interest in the auditor position.

That same week, Denke said Blume offered the position to him on condition of commissioners’ approval and he accepted it. Blume told him the appointment would be discussed today.

“During my campaign … I stated I do care about Douglas County’s future and it would be an honor to serve the people of Douglas County again,” he said. “I’m anxious to get to work as Douglas County auditor.”

Denke, of rural Delmont, has been an appraiser for the Bon Homme County Equalization Office for three years. Prior to that, he was Davison County’s director of equalization for one year and served 17 years in that stead in Douglas County.

Parkhurst said he advised Blume that commissioners should not consider Denke’s appointment at today’s meeting because of insufficient notice on the agenda.

The item had not been put on the agenda, and public notice must be posted 24 hours in advance, he said.

“At this point, they could not meet that,” Parkhurst said Monday afternoon.

The matter could be discussed at next week’s meeting if it is on the agenda.

County commissioners are allowed to appoint someone to fill a vacant county office position provided that the person meets residency and age requirements, Parkhurst said. That person will serve a twoyear appointment, with a term expiring in 2012.

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