Four of Hall County's top administrators were forced to resign Wednesday, and Hall County commissioners will vote on their interim replacements tonight.

The resignations left commissioners and county employees in a whirlwind, with Commissioners Ashley Bell, Craig Lutz and Scott Gibbs seeking new faces for the county administrator, assistant county administrator, county attorney and county finance director.

County Administrator Charley Nix resigned around 3 p.m. and left the office with his personal belongings by 3:30 p.m., escorted by Hall County Warden Avery Niles and fellow employees. Assistant County Administrator Phil Sutton and County Attorney Bill Blalock followed an hour later, and Finance Director Michaela Thompson is expected to leave this morning.

Jock Connell, who stepped down as Gwinnett County administrator at the end of 2009, is expected to be appointed to Nix's position for six months and will hold all of the official duties of a county administrator.

Commissioners Billy Powell and Chairman Tom Oliver were unaware of the pending actions until Wednesday afternoon.

"I walked into Phil's office with Craig, who said he had a chance to resign or he'd terminate him, and they'll talk to Michaela in the morning," Oliver said around 4 p.m. Wednesday. "This is totally illegal without commissioner action and a vote. They're acting as vigilantes here."

Nix's severance package is $69,000 for six months of salary, $18,000 for six months of benefits and $8,400 accrued vacation. Hall County officials didn't release details Wednesday about the resignations of Sutton, Blalock or Thompson.

Nix declined to comment to The Times, but in a news release from the county Wednesday afternoon, Nix said he was disappointed to be leaving.

"I am sorry to leave and had hoped to see the completion of several projects that are very important for Hall County residents," he said. "But I do wish the county employees well, and I hope this new direction will be a positive experience for them."

The commissioners will vote on the appointments at today's 6 p.m. called meeting, and Powell and Oliver said they plan to fight against it.

"I want to make clear that Tom and I had no idea about this, though the news release states that Hall County commissioners asked Charley to resign. It's clearly the other three," Powell said.

"I'm in shock. I don't know the reasons why, and Charley and Bill were well-liked in this community and by every employee I know ... (Bell, Gibbs and Lutz) have made a mockery of this county, coming in with guns blazing and not taking the time to get to know the people or the jobs that they do."

Both Powell and Oliver questioned the ethics of whether discussions about the position are legal and subject to open meetings laws. Powell called the Association County Commissioners of Georgia for legal advice on Wednesday.

"I suppose the commissioners-elect can talk until they are sworn in. There's no case law on it," said James Grubiak, general counsel for ACCG. "As far as the resignations, you can ask anyone about anything you want, but you can't terminate them before a vote."

As commissioners-elect, Lutz and Gibbs could meet with Bell as private citizens without an open meeting requirement, said David Hudson, general counsel for the Georgia Press Association and a partner in the Augusta law firm Hull Barrett.

The discussions would have no binding effect, and action would require a majority vote in public by the commissioners who are in office, Hudson noted.

Lutz was sworn in Monday, and Gibbs was sworn in Tuesday, leaving today as the time to vote on the positions.

"It's a shame this county has gotten to this stage," Oliver said. "I feel bad for the employees, and who knows what's in line next."

Reached by phone Wednesday, Connell declined to comment until the position becomes official.

"If appointed, I think Jock will do a great job," Lutz said. "This doesn't have anything to do with job performance. I really felt like we needed a new coach for our football team. He had great leadership experience in Gwinnett and really saw how Gwinnett can grow."

The Atlanta firm Holland and Knight will replace Blalock.

"The current county attorney will have the opportunity to participate in the (request for proposal) process," Lutz said. "We hope to use a Gainesville business for the permanent position but wanted to make sure in the interim that whatever firm we use isn't currently doing business with any current commissioners."

Discussions about the positions started in the fall when Lutz, Gibbs and Bell talked about wanting to see "fresh eyes" in the top county spots, Lutz said.

They contacted the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia for advice, and Connell's name popped up again and again.

"Jock has extreme experience in running counties larger than ours, and I was interested if he would come work for us, but the question was price," Bell said Wednesday. "Because of the economy, prices are lower and it's a buyer's market. Getting this kind of expertise at the same price as the current county administrator would be a steal for Hall County."

The decision came back to experience for Bell.

"It was a no-brainer to me. It's nothing personal, and I told Charley that today," Bell said. "I've known him for the majority of my life, and I definitely understand that it's a tough decision dealing with people's lives. He told me he didn't take it personally, and we have to put the county first if we can get someone with that kind of experience when we have the challenges of today."

Bell also said he was concerned about a county attorney's law partners being in business with county commissioners. Blalock is an attorney with the law firm Stewart Melvin & Frost. Another attorney at the firm, Tread Syfan, joined Oliver and Powell in October 2008 to form a limited liability corporation and were under contract to purchase the Regions Bank Operations Center.

The corporation became involved in a legal argument between Regions and the Gainesville City Center, developers of a high-rise hotel and office complex for Gainesville's Midtown redevelopment project.

Blalock will be able to apply again if he can confirm no ties to local officials.

"I had a resolution about a year ago saying we should prohibit the county attorney from being in business with county officials, and it failed," Bell said. "I haven't been able to fix it, and in my opinion, this is the only way to make sure we keep our pledge to folks about strengthening our ethics law."

The county will begin a contract with the Carl Vinson Institute to start a nationwide search for the permanent county administrator position and will open a request for proposal for the county attorney position, Bell said.