Higginbotham named county administrator

Madison County supervisors on Monday named Greg Higginbotham the new county administrator.

The appointment follows the recent retirement of Shelton Vance after nearly a decade of county service. 

Higginbotham, who previously served as Madison County comptroller and was hired last month as an assistant county administrator, was given an annual salary of $120,000 by supervisors. 

District 2 Supervisor Trey Baxter made the motion to appoint Higginbotham as county administrator when supervisors discussed what direction they wanted to go as a board. 

District 4 Supervisor Karl Banks said he had thought about the direction since Vance announced his retirement mid June but hadn’t come to a specific conclusion yet. 

“I do agree that Greg has the qualities and qualifications, education and everything else to do the job as county administrator,” he said. “I don’t have a problem with that. I can go whichever way the board wants to go with this. I’ve got confidence in Greg. I also have confidence in this board if greg does not or cannot give us what we need that we will make a change from there.”

Board President Paul Griffin said whichever way the board decided to go he agreed with hiring an assistant county administrator and giving Higginbotham the authority to hire a consultant if necessary to bring him up to speed. 

Supervisors then voted unanimously to appoint Higginbotham as county administrator and authorize advertising for an assistant county administrator.