Doña Ana County says county manager wasn’t fired despite contract terminating
UPDATE (July 23, 2026): Doña Ana County leaders said their county manager wasn’t fired despite his contract terminating.
County Commissioner Manuel Sanchez said Scott Andrews approached the board about leaving his position as county manager, but his contract didn’t include a provision for an early departure.
Sanchez said terminating the contract without case was the only legal way to end the agreement.
“One of the things we found is that there is no clause that allows the county manager to leave early. So we had to invoke termination for no cause,” Commissioner Sanchez said.
He also said the county will likely wait until after the November election to hire a new, permanent county manager. An interim manager could be named as early as next week.
DONA ANA COUNTY, New Mexico (KVIA) – The Doña Ana County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted to end the employment contract with Scott Andrews who was serving as the County Manager.
The termination is effectively immediately, according to a release by the county. His contract was terminated “without cause”.
As part of the terms of his contract and separation agreement, Andrews will receive six months worth of his salary.
County commissioners will now focus on the next steps for county leadership.
A spokesperson for the county stated in the release that, “additional information will be shared with the public as it becomes available”.
Andrews was appointed on Aug. 13, 2024 by the Board of County Commissioners. At the time the county said he brought with him “more than 21 years of experience in public sector administration with extensive experience in economic development, quality of life initiatives, community relations, consensus building, and modernization of municipal organizations”.
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