Durham County Manager Kimberly Sowell placed on leave, but county won’t say why
Durham County’s top-ranking official, County Manager Kimberly Sowell, has been on leave for over two weeks, though it’s unclear why.
“The board is not going to be making any comments on that, as it’s a personnel item,” Board of Commissioners Chair Nida Allam said Monday night.
Claudia Hager, a longtime county employee, was appointed Monday night as acting county manager “until Dr. Sowell’s return from leave,” according to an agenda item unanimously approved by the county commissioners.
Sowell last attended a Board of Commissioners meeting on Sept. 9. The board held closed sessions before and after that meeting, and Sowell’s leave started that night.
A closed session to discuss personnel matters was also held Monday night after the regularly scheduled meeting.
Sowell was hired in March 2022 and moved to Durham from Greensboro. Payroll records in a national salary database show Sowell was making over $290,000 in 2023.
Sowell does not have access to her county email and did not respond Tuesday to attempts to contact her by phone and social media.
County attorney also left this year
The county’s second-highest-paid employee also departed earlier this year without an announcement from the county.
Former County Attorney Alan Andrews said he was leaving because he was nearing retirement and wanted to return to Charlotte. Andrews spent a year and seven days in the position, leaving Jan. 10.
County officials refused to provide details of his departure, aside from his start and end dates and $258,170 salary. Several records requests submitted by The News & Observer remain unfilled.
Curtis Massey remains the interim county attorney.
