CASSOPOLIS — Cass County’s search for a new administrator is over.

At a special meeting of the Cass County Board of Commissioners Tuesday, the board selected current interim administrator Jeff Carmen to fill the permanent position left when the board and former administrator Karen Folks reached a retirement agreement in January. Carmen has been serving as interim administrator since February.

Carmen’s hiring will be formally voted on at the board’s next regular meeting on May 2, according to board chair Robert Benjamin.

“Cass County has stopped its search for an administrator,” Benjamin said. “We are looking forward to adopting [Carmen as administrator], and [we are] assuming a unanimous agreement to move that forward.”

In the time that Carmen has been serving as interim administrator, Benjamin said he had heard positive feedback from county employees and elected officials about the work Carmen is doing and how he has been handling issues within the county. Because of this positive feedback, Benjamin asked Carmen to consider taking on the permanent position of administrator, though Carmen did not initially apply for the job, a fact commissioners expressed disappointment with at their April 18 meeting.

“I got a lot of feedback from employees that they were very happy with the direction he is going,” Benjamin said. “Across the board, it has all been positive.”

Carmen, a 63-year-old resident of Jefferson Township, comes to the county with administrative experience. In fact, he has served in the position of Cass County administrator before, having been hired in 1986 as the county’s first administrator. He served in the role for three years. He later served as township supervisor in Jefferson Township for 16 years.

It is because of his experience that Carmen believes he was asked to take on the permanent role of administrator. 

“As I worked these months with Cass County employees, elected officials and appointed department heads, it became clear that my historic understanding of some of these things was valuable, useful and could be helpful,” Carmen said. “I live here. This is my community, and I think we all want to create a stable, exciting community.”

Carmen said he is excited to take on the role of administrator, to continue to work with the current board of commissioners and to take on many of the ongoing tasks in Cass County, including work on the historic courthouse, a county-wide reclassification of employees and the beginning of the budget process. As he goes forward into his position, Carmen said he wants to work with county officials to continue to move the county in a positive direction.

“This is an exciting time in the county. … We are looking forward and excited for everything — parks and recreation, the historic commission, and how the county regards itself and how it is regarded in the broader region,” Carmen said. “It is important for an administrator to be a leader and a stable energy that gathers people together from the county and helps create consensus.”