Navajo County Recorder Laurette Justman announced her retirement after more than 30 years of service to the county, nearly 16 of which were as the recorder, during a board of supervisors meeting held on June 9.

At Justman’s request, the board of supervisors appointed Laura Sanchez, currently the chief deputy of the department, as Justman’s successor. Sanchez will serve the remainder of Justman’s elected term, which expires in 2016.

Justman’s retirement is effective June 30, bringing her total time in the recorder’s office to 30.5 years. She began as a typist and quickly moved through the ranks to become deputy county recorder in 1989. When elected official Jay Turley departed from the recorder’s office in July of 1999, Justman was appointed by the Board of Supervisors as the county recorder and has been continually re-elected to the position since that time, for a total of four consecutive terms.

Board members formally accepted Justman’s letter of resignation indicating her intent to retire, and praised her for her many years of service. Justman in turn thanked the citizens of Navajo County for electing her to the position as well as her staff and family for their assistance and support.

“The decision to retire has been a very difficult one for me to make, as I have worked in the recorder’s office for 30 1/2 years and I have valued every minute of it. My time with Navajo County has been an amazing and very gratifying experience,” Justman wrote in her resignation letter. “I am appreciative for the opportunities that I have encountered while serving the citizens of Navajo County and I am thankful to the people of this great county who have allowed me to serve in the position of county recorder for the past 16 years.”

Justman told the board that Sanchez has been instrumental in running the recorder’s office and is looking forward to serving as her replacement. Sanchez thanked the board for the appointment and noted that she will strive to uphold the high standards set by Justman.

“My intent is to always work on behalf of the voters,” Sanchez said.

In other action June 9, the board:

* Recognized Terance Yazzie as the county’s May fitness challenge winner.

* Recognized the contributions of elected officials Linda Morrow, Steve Williams, Jason Whiting, Michala Ruechel, Evelyn Marez and Deanne Romo to the victims’ rights symposium poster contest.

* Approved an agreement with the Arizona Department of Health Services to share public health data.

* Approved a banking services agreement with Wells Fargo for purchasing card services.

* Approved an agreement with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) for the purchase of up to $25,000 in parts for heavy equipment to maintain BIA public roads using District I capital improvement funds.

* Awarded a contract to CRM America for the hauling of waste tires at a rate of $76.90 per ton, for an estimated total cost of $168,411 over the course of one year.

* Approved an agreement with Apache County to house juveniles in the Navajo County detention facility at a flat rate of $90,000 per year for up to four juveniles per day, and an additional $130 per day for each additional juvenile.

The next regular board meeting is set for 9 a.m. on Tuesday, June 23, at the county complex in Holbrook.