BROWNSTOWN — Jackson County will soon have a new chief financial officer.

Staci Eglen of Cortland was selected to replace Auditor Roger Hurt, who recently resigned, during a caucus of Republican precinct committeemen and committeewomen on Feb. 21.

Hurt said Tuesday morning after a county commissioners meeting at the courthouse that he plans to return to his roots in construction after receiving an offer.

“I can’t work two 80-hour-a-week jobs,” he said.

Hurt recently completed his second year as county auditor after spending the previous four years as county recorder.

Eglen, who was Hurt’s administrative assistant, said she went to work in the auditor’s office in August 2011.

“I started on the tax side helping with deductions and all that. Then I moved to claims and utilities, and then I did payroll,” she said.

The auditor, which is a constitutional office, is the fiscal officer for county government in Indiana and serves as the secretary of the board of county commissioners and the clerk to the county council. As a constitutional office, auditors can only hold two consecutive four-year terms.

The auditor’s responsibilities also include keeping and issuing checks for the county and distributing property tax revenues to the governmental units and agencies for which they were collected.

The auditor assists with the budget preparations by developing financial analysis and cash flow projections and also must prepare plats that show ownership and assessed valuation of each parcel in each township of the county.