By KEN CARPENTER
Great Bend Post
Barton County Commissioner Jim Daily announced on Wednesday that he will be resigning from the commission on March 16th. Daily told his fellow county commissioners at their weekly meeting that he and his wife will be moving to Wichita so she can receive cancer treatment.
“I have enjoyed my time being a commissioner,” Daily said. “I’ve been here three years now, and I’ve had a great time doing it. It’s always been a pleasure of mine even back in the days when I was sheriff to represent the citizens of this county and work with them.”
Daily served three terms as the Barton County Sheriff from 1989 to 2001. He was appointed to the commission in 2019 to fill the vacancy created when former Commissioner Alicia Straub was appointed to a seat in the Kansas State House. Daily ran unopposed for a full four-year term on the commission in 2020.
Daily's fellow commissioners praised his work, including Barb Esfeld who served as Barton County Appraiser before being elected to the commission in 2020.
“I have been very privileged and pleased to get to serve with you for the time I have, and appreciated when I was the appraiser, you always listened and asked questions,” Esfeld commented. “You always treated us with respect and that’s meant a lot.”
It will be up to the Barton County Republican Party to select a replacement for Daily.