Conklin leaves assessor office

Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
 
The Weston County Republican Party is searching for candidates to fill the county assessor position after Assessor Tina Conklin submitted her resignation. The Board of Weston County Commissioners accepted Conklin’s resignation, effective Dec. 31, during its meeting on Dec. 7. 
First elected to the office in 2006, Conklin said she began working in the assessor’s office in 1994. After securing a new term in 2018, Conklin is retiring before that term ends next year. 
“I am retiring before my term is finished to help take care of my mom and spend more time with family,” Conklin told the News Letter Journal. “My husband and I plan to spend time with family and friends and travel to sites around the country that we’ve always wanted to visit.” 
In her letter to the commissioners, Conklin noted that the decision was not easy to make but that it was time for her to step away. Conklin said that her staff — deputy assessor Kara Lendardson, field appraiser Stephanie Derifield and assistant field appraiser Mona Wineteer — has been aware of the coming transition for some time. 
“I told my office staff in July that I would be leaving early,” she told the News Letter Journal. “Since that time, they have been cross-training to
help the transition in the office go as smoothly as possible.” 
The process of selecting Conklin’s replacement will begin on Dec. 20 at 4 p.m. during a Weston County Republican Party Central Committee meeting in the Pinnacle Bank conference room, according to Party Chairman Kari Drost. 
The committee will choose three candidates, per Wyoming Statute 22-18-111(a)(ii). These individuals will then be forwarded to the Weston County commissioners for final selection. 
Anyone wishing to submit their names for consideration should contact Drost and the Weston County Republican Party. Whoever is selected will fill the position until the winner of the 2022 election takes their seat in January of 2023. 
“In the spirit of transparency that the Weston County Republican Party seeks to exemplify, the candidate interview process will be open
to the public,” Drost said. “All citizens of Weston County are invited to attend, regardless of party affiliation.”