What began as a regularly scheduled county commission meeting turned into a confrontation between commissioners and County Attorney Tiana McElroy that ended in the abrupt resignation of the county attorney. The Neosho County Attorney Office would not provide an effective date for that resignation by press time.
McElroy has been in her post for just over a year after being elected in 2024.
Commissioners had declined to approve a pay raise for McElroy when they gave annual raises for department heads. Commissioner Nicholas Galemore said that he had gotten a lot of feedback with concerns about McElroy’s performance as county attorney, with her availability to constituents being an issue.
“The main issue I’m hearing is the ability to connect with you,” Galemore said.
Commission Chair Gail Klaassen noted that McElroy had taken on some outside work as a deputy county attorney for Allen County in addition to her current duties.
McElroy claimed that she had to take on additional work to supplement her income.
“I am an attorney with 22 years of experience, and I have bills to pay,” she said. She also took issue with the county commission contracting to outside attorneys for legal work. According to McElroy, the county pays four attorneys approximately $5,000 a month for other cases, for a total of $240,000 annually. She argued that she should make at least half that herself with her experience.
McElroy said she was making $110,000 annually in her previous position as Bourbon County attorney and could command much more than that in private practice.
Galemore noted that the commission had given McElroy a $20,000 raise this last spring, from $72,000 a year to $92,000.
“You said that you were good with that,” he said.
McElroy also took issue with the county commission’s rejection of a flooring invoice from her office.
“To single out that invoice felt like a flex to me,” she said.
Commissioners had declined to pay the invoice saying that it should be coming from the county attorney diversion fund. McElroy said that had been her plan, until she realized that she could not. She said that as she had told commissioners previously, she could not touch any of the diversion funds until an ongoing audit on the funds had been completed. She did not indicate when that audit would be finished.
McElroy went on to say that she felt that the commission had failed to communicate any of these concerns with her.
“If there ever was an issue, everyone should have my cellphone number,” she said. “No issue was ever brought to my attention.”
McElroy claimed she had to find out from other departments that the commission had not given her a raise nor paid the invoice. Both decisions were made in open, broadcast meetings.
Ultimately, McElroy decided the job was not worth working with the current county commission.
“I cannot work with a board I cannot trust,” she said. “I feel bad for the citizens because I really do care, but I just can’t work with this board anymore.”
