BELLE FOURCHE - Sue Whitman and some of her supporters filed into the Butte County Commission chambers Tuesday to complain that her appointment as director of equalization should not have been withdrawn.

Commissioners and Belle Fourche Mayor Dave Schneider did not change their decision, continuing to advertise for job applicants. The mayor serves on a special board hiring a county assessor when the city has more than half of the county's population.

The board hired Whitman in early September but withdrew the decision after several people complained the hiring violated state open-meetings law requirements. County State's Attorney Timothy Vander Heide has forwarded the complaint to the state's open-meetings commission for a formal hearing.

Whitman and her supporters requested that she be hired as the county's chief tax assessor. Whitman said she would be fair to all taxpayers if hired.

Her backers included rural taxpayer advocates Sharon Kudlock, Paul Erk and former County Commissioner Manuel Kindsfater.

Whitman previously worked for the county but was terminated several years ago in a case battled in the courts. She told commissioners Tuesday that she had been a loyal employee and only followed procedures to get back her clerk job in the assessor's office.

Court records indicate that a state labor department review that Whitman requested found that she was fired "for cause" of insubordination. But it also found that the county had not followed the appropriate process to terminate her.

The county appealed the state decision, and filings in circuit court include Whitman's lawyer questioning whether the state was in error in upholding "just cause" for her firing.

She said she had not sued Butte County and that a settlement in the case came from the county's insurance company.