There is one final week left as an elected official in Barton County for Amy Mellor. The County Attorney announced November 20 that she would be resigning because of the sometimes hostile working relationship with Barton County Sheriff Brian Bellendir. Her resignation takes effect Friday, December 7.

The resignation letter was sent to Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer and a copy to Barton County Clerk Donna Zimmerman. Zimmerman passed the information on to Dick Friedeman, who serves as the Chairman of the Barton County Republican Central Committee. That committee will soon meet to vote on Mellor’s replacement.

Dick Friedeman Audio

The meeting is scheduled for December 10 at 7 p.m. at the Barton County Courthouse in Great Bend. Any interested candidate should attend the meeting where they can speak before the committee as to why they should be chosen. A secret vote from the 45-member committee will take place and the candidate with the majority of the votes will be selected to become the next Barton County Attorney.

Dick Friedeman Audio

After a candidate is chosen, Friedeman has 24 hours to notify Governor Colyer by mail of the selection. Colyer has seven days to make a decision. Friedeman noted the Governor is obliged to approve the selection, but the verification is there to make sure the process was carried out correctly. The selected candidate will then serve the remaining two years of Mellor’s term and will have a chance to run for the full four-year term in the 2020 elections.

Mellor forwarded on a case that charged Bellendir of ill-treating a confined suspect. Bellendir was found not guilty after a jury trial on November 16. Bellendir noted the tension and animosity between the two offices started years ago when he criticized how long it took the Attorney’s Office to prosecute cases and approve search warrants.