By JIMMY LAWTON

CANTON -- St. Lawrence County Republicans will start the search to replace Travis Dann, R-Gouverneur, despite the fact he has yet to resign his position in the wake of being named Court Justice in Gouverneur.

County law restricts Dann from holding the county office and the justice position at the same time.

Legislator Joseph Lightfoot, R-Oswegatchie, spurred a lengthy discussion when he notified his fellow board members the Republicans would seek candidates for the position Monday night.

Lightfoot said he wanted to ensure there was adequate time to find a suitable replacement and limit the length of time Gouverneur and DePeyster are without representation if Dann does in fact take the justice position.

Lightfoot said that according to county law, a vacancy committee can’t be formed by Chairman John Burke, R-Norfolk, until there is a vacancy on the board. But, despite being elected as town justice in November, Dann has not submitted a letter of resignation.

Lightfoot said he isn’t trying to skirt the law, but wants to begin canvasing potential candidates.

Burke said he agreed with the recommendation, but was taken aback by a suggestion from Kevin Acres, R-Madrid, who suggested Burke should ask Dann to pen a resignation to speed the process along.

Burke was clear that he would do no such thing. He said Dann is an elected official, put in place by the people. He said it’s up to Dann to decide if he wishes to step down prior to officially taking over as town justice.

Dann was not present at the meeting. He was reportedly attending classes in preparation for the justice position.

Acres later clarified his comment, to mean Dann should be contacted by the chair to move the process along.

Democrats informed Lightfoot and other Republicans that they had no problem with the caucus beginning the search early, as Dann’s resignation is anticipated.

According to county law, the chairman of the board is to appoint a committee consisting of all of the Republicans on the board of legislators to find a replacement. According to the law, the chair is obligated to approve the committee’s selection.

In a recent interview, Burke stated he wanted input from representatives from DePeyster and Gouverneur considered in the process.

Although not formal action was taken, Republicans agreed with Lightfoot’s call to get the ball rolling on the search.

Lightfoot is asking anyone interested in filling the position to reach out to county Republicans. Interested parties can contact the St. Lawrence County Board of Legislators by visiting the county website at http://www.co.st-lawrence.ny.us/Maps/FindMyLegislator.asp