GOLDENDALE — Klickitat County Prosecuting Attorney David Quesnel resigned his office abruptly on the day before Thanksgiving with a one-line email to the three county commissioners, saying that he is resigning his position, effective Dec. 14. No reason was given for the decision, as his term still has a full year to run.
That leaves the county in a bit of a quandary, at least on the surface. Unless a county has changed to home rule by passing a county charter, the state constitution says that the P.A. office is a partisan one, and that the county commissioners have 60 days to appoint a replacement from three nominees provided by the retiring P.A.'s political party.
But in the 2022 election, Mr. Quesnel ran unopposed under a "No party preference" designation.
County Auditor Heather Jobe, said that the state constitution was silent on the situation, and when she reached out to the state, they had provided no specific guidance.
She did note that there is a relevant state RCW, 36.16.115, which says "Where a vacancy occurs in any partisan county elective office, other than a member of the county legislative authority, the county legislative authority may appoint an employee that was serving as a deputy or assistant in such office at the time the vacancy occurred as an acting official to perform all necessary duties to continue normal office operations. The acting official will serve until a successor is either elected or appointed as required by law."
She also pointed out that, if the resignation was to take effect on Dec. 14, Mr. Quesnel would have up until that time to withdraw his resignation.
Fortunately, there is precedent in Washington State. In June this year, Douglas County Prosecuting Attorney Gordon Edgar announced his retirement after serving 30 years in the office, seven of them as the P.A.
A story on the website for Yakima television station KNDO noted the unusual situation, and the county’s response:
“Lewis' selection process differed from some past appointments. Washington law requires an elected official who resigns from a partisan office to be replaced by a member of their own party. Edgar was twice elected as a nonpartisan candidate, throwing the commissioners' appointment open to all qualified applicants.”
The story reports the county received two applications, and chose Sean Lewis, the assistant P.A. from Chelan County over the Ethan Morris, assistant P.A. in the Douglas County office. Morris ended up taking Lewis’ newly-vacated assistant P.A. position in Chelan County.
It’s likely that Klickitat County Commissioners will treat the situation the same way.
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