Kingfisher County commissioners voted Monday to appoint Carrie Turner as interim county assessor.

Turner, who’s worked the past two years as a deputy purchasing agent for the county clerk’s office, succeeds former county assessor Carolyn Mulherin, who died Oct. 23 due to complications of COVID-19.

Turner will serve the remainder of Mulherin’s second term in office, which ends December 2022.

She was recommended for the appointment by Heath Dobrovolny, District 3 commissioner and board chairman, after he interviewed her and three other prospective candidates last week.

After the commissioner’s meeting Monday morning, Turner was sworn in by Associate District Judge Lance Schneiter and officially went to work in her new office.

Dobrovolny also told his fellow commissioners that he met with Wade Patterson, the retired Garfield County assessor who now runs a statewide consulting firm on property taxation and valuation.

“I’m going to be recommending that we contract with him to consult with our assessor’s office,” Dobrovolny said. “Carrie’s taking over at a busy and difficult time of year.”

He described Patterson as one of the premier authorities on county taxation issues in the country.

Before his two decades of service in Garfield County, Patterson provided county appraisal services and then worked for the Oklahoma Tax Commission as a county assessor trainer.

“I’d like to have him working in the office alongside Carrie for maybe the first couple of weeks and then be available by phone after that,” Dobrovolny said.

Commissioners likely will vote next week on whether to approve a formal contract with Patterson, Dobrovolny said after the meeting.

Mulherin served more than 30 years as an assessor’s office employee.