Rick Moorefield was officially offered, and has accepted, the county attorney’s position in Cumberland County.

Following a closed door meeting for personnel matters late Monday afternoon, the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners voted to appoint Moorefield as the new county attorney, effective Jan. 1, 2010. His annual salary will be $164,000.

Early last week, Moorefield called Sampson County commissioners individually and said he was seriously considering an offer from Cumberland. Last Friday, Moorefield told the board it was his intention to accept the conditional offer.

He has thanked Sampson commissioners for the opportunity to serve as both the county’s attorney and its manager, a dual role he has taken on in an official capacity since being hired as Sampson’s attorney on top of his managerial post in September.

Moorefield previously worked in Cumberland County’s legal department as the assistant county attorney from October 2006 to April 2007. Returning to serve as that county’s top legal counsel was “an offer that it would just be foolish of me to decline,” Moorefield told Sampson commissioners Friday.

The Cumberland board began its search for a new county attorney after the July death of Grainger Barrett, who was the county’s chief legal counsel for 10 years. The board heavily recruited Moorefield to return to the county.

Moorefield has been with Sampson County since April 2007 as the county attorney. He took on the additional duties of interim county manager in February 2009, following Scott Sauer’s departure to Harnett County. He was hired to the county manager’s post the next month, at which time he continued to offer legal services for the county. Notices of the open attorney position were sent to law offices across Clinton and Sampson County soliciting full-time legal counsel before the decision was made to hire Moorefield in September.

As county manager in Sampson, Moorefield made $107,112. In addition to the base salary, he received $3,000 for legal fees and an additional $1,000 a month on top of the manager’s salary for any additional legal work he performed. He received a $33,000 raise upon his hire as the county’s full-time attorney in September.

In addition to Sampson and, now, Cumberland, Moorefield has also served as county attorney for both Macon and Alamance counties. The outgoing county manager/attorney has also worked in private practice in Graham and as general counsel for two North Carolina partnerships, Ulmer Limited Partnership and Ulmer Associates, which developed commercial real estate in Beaufort County, S.C.

“We think we are getting a real gem in you since you served where we sit,” said Jeannette Council, the Cumberland board chairman. Moorefield is a former commissioner in Alamance County.

Moorefield will head up a county legal department that has seven positions, including his own. In addition to the county attorney, Cumberland has a deputy attorney, staff attorney, legal assistant, two paralegals and one office support personnel. The department provides legal services to the Board of Commissioners, county manager’s office and county department heads, while also handling litigation against and on behalf of the county.

Deputy county attorney Harvey Raynor is stepping down from the interim attorney position on Nov. 30. The Cumberland board announced that Phyllis Jones will serve in the interim until Moorefield begins works in January.

Sampson will likely discuss the search for a new county manager in the coming weeks. Following Moorefield’s announcement of his intent to accept the Cumberland position last Friday, the board met in a closed door session, following which no action was taken.

Board chairman Jarvis McLamb said a new manager, at first on an interim basis, would likely be the target of a search. The task of filling the county attorney’s position has not yet been discussed by the board, which meets again Dec. 7.

Commissioner John Blanton said he believes there are other county managers that can step into Sampson’s position — the prospect would be to find one who fills the county’s niche.

Blanton said it could be the recommendation of the board to utilize the Institute of Government to find an interim manager for the time being.

“The Institute of Government can get someone suitable for six months,” said Blanton, who said that person could be a past county manager or someone who has held a similar position in local government. “There’s a lot of county managers out there who are qualified and willing to work.”

Chris Berendt can be reached at 910-592-8137, ext. 121, or by email at sicrime@myclintonnc.com.