The Polk County Board of Commissioners will be down by one as one of their longer serving members will be moving out of the county for a job opportunity.
Commissioner Jason Ward, who was first elected to the county commission in 2010, announced on his Facebook page Wednesday evening that he would be leaving Polk County and relocating to Jacksonville, Florida for a job opportunity.
Ward has not officially tendered his resignation as of Thursday morning, but that will likely occur within the next several weeks.
According to the Polk County Board of Elections, Ward’s seat on the commission is not up for election until 2018.
It is not known at this time when a replacement will be named or who that might be.
The seat of the late Billy Croker, who died while in his third year of his four year term, was filled by Scotty Tillery in 2015.
Tillery was appointed to the post by Polk County Probate Judge Linda Smith, and later won his reelection bid unopposed in 2016.