Rheubin Taylor is seated on the left side of the photo and Janie Parks Varnell is seated on the right side
The County Commission will vote next Wednesday to officially make Janie Parks Varnell the next county attorney effective July 1.
Also, the county will post notices on May 12 for several job openings in the county attorney office.
Rheubin Taylor, who has held the post for 32 years, confirmed that he will be retiring on that date.
The commission voted in January to name Ms. Varnell as a special advisor to the commission, with the understanding that she would be groomed for the county attorney spot.
It’s been a prickly transition, and Ms. Varnell said she has not yet been inside the county attorney office.
County Attorney Taylor said Wednesday he will give her a tour so she will know the office layout. He said last week he showed the office to three commission members.
Ms. Varnell said the current staff is leaving with the exception possibly of a paralegal. She said attorney Dee Hobbs has agreed to continue working on a contract basis.
Ms. Varnell said she was unable to reach another attorney in the office, Sharon Milling. She said she was advised that Ms. Milling is taking a position as a judicial magistrate at Juvenile Court.
A third lawyer in the office, Mary Neill Southerland, retired earlier.
County Commissioner Gene-o Shipley said commissioners should give their full support to Ms. Varnell. He noted that she had left a thriving law practice at the Davis and Hoss firm.
He said, “We don’t want to set her up for failure.”
Ms. Varnell said she plans to have a deputy county attorney and to give the administrative assistant additional duties.
She said of the job postings, “I already have people set to apply.”
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