A potentially thorny political appointment may be shaping up for Adams County Board Chairman Mike McLaughlin.

It involves the District 6 seat held by John Hibbert, the Republican incumbent who was recently found guilty of financial exploitation of an elderly person and theft over $10,000.

Being convicted of a felony means Hibbert will have to give up his seat on the County Board, which he has held since 2002. Hibbert can legally remain on the board until he is sentenced Dec. 7, but he's likely to resign at some point before then.

The dilemma facing McLaughlin is who to appoint to fill out the remaining year of Hibbert's term, which expires at the end of November 2010, and when should the person be appointed.

Three Republicans in District 6 -- Les Post of Golden, Wayne Zimmerman of Camp Point and Frank Giles of Paloma -- have already filed nominating petitions for the Feb. 2 primary, while Robert Barry of Liberty has filed for the Democratic nomination. More potential candidates have until 5 p.m. Monday to throw their hats into the ring. Winners from the primary will advance to the Nov. 2, 2010, general election.

Whenever Hibbert steps aside, McLaughlin will have 60 days to appoint someone to the vacant seat in District 6. He could then appoint one of the Republican candidates running in the primary, thereby giving that person a political edge by having "incumbent" status during the election.

But so far, Hibbert hasn't come forward with his resignation, and there's no telling exactly when that might occur.

"As of right now he's still a board member," McLaughlin said.

"If he were to resign tomorrow, I would have 60 days, and that would obviously be before the primary. So I would probably ask the (Republican) precinct committeemen what they would want to do. I'd say that the majority of them would have a favorite."

McLaughlin has used this same process previously to find candidates to fill unexpired terms. He'll ask the precinct committeemen from the affected district to designate a preferred candidate for him to consider appointing.

"I feel that's only fair," McLaughlin said. "The precinct committeemen are the grassroots people who are out there hitting the pavement for us, and they have a pretty good idea of who the best candidates are. They know the people personally. I'm not going to know all those people myself."

In this case, the person appointed to serve temporarily as a District 6 board member could have a slight edge in winning the February primary. "It's not going to give them a real advantage, I can tell you that, because of the short time frame" the person would be able to serve on the board leading up to the primary, McLaughlin said.

Several scenarios could develop.

On one hand, the person appointed by McLaughlin could go on to win the primary, putting that person in a stronger position to do well in the general election the following November.

Or, it's possible the person appointed by McLaughlin might not win the primary. If that were to occur, you'd have the awkward situation of having the fill-in Republican board member serving as a lame-duck appointee while the Republican nominee from the primary campaigns for the general election.

Yet another possibility is Hibbert might not resign voluntarily, in which case the county would have to take some legal action after the Dec. 7 sentencing to declare his seat vacant. This could delay the appointment and seating of a new board member until just before the primary.

Still another possible scenario could work to the Republican Party's advantage. Hibbert presumably could wait until just before his sentencing to resign. If he stepped down in early December, McLaughlin would have enough time to wait until after the primary to make his appointment, in which case he could simply name the winner of the Republican race to serve out the remainder of Hibbert's term. This would ensure the person a more solid resume as an incumbent.

McLaughlin said he doesn't know what's going to happen.

"It's something I've thought about, but there's nothing I can do until he (Hibbert) pulls the trigger" on resigning.

-- ehusar@whig.com/221-3378