County Settles Lawsuit Over Auditor-Treasurer’s Residency

(KNSI) – Benton County and its embattled Auditor-Treasurer have reached an agreement after suing each over her residency status.

Officials had accused Nadean Inman of representing the county for a year and a half without living within its borders, which is required by statute. According to reports, the county and Inman settled their lawsuits on Tuesday after the county board unanimously approved the deal.

Benton County says it will drop its lawsuit over Inman’s residency and in return, Inman will drop out of the race for auditor-treasurer but will be allowed to serve the rest of her term. The two sides also agreed not to disparage each other now or in the future.

Inman’s name will still appear on the primary ballot on August 9th, but she has agreed not to stay in the race if elected.

The Benton County Board of Commissioners filed the initial lawsuit against Inman in the spring. In that document, Benton County alleges, “While places were available for Respondent [Inman] to either rent or purchase in Benton County, Respondent resided with her husband at her permanent residence in Becker for a period of approximately nine months beginning in March 2020 and ending in January 2021.”

Inman did not entirely dispute the allegation. “With regard to the time frame referenced in Paragraph 23 of the Complaint, a national pandemic had been declared because of COVID-l9 and the Governor of Minnesota had ordered numerous emergency orders to limit the spread of COVID-l9, including closing all non-essential businesses and entities. As a result of COVID-l9, although Respondent was working with a realtor, it was difficult to find suitable housing and therefore Respondent admits part of the allegations.”

___