Photo:  Cook County MN

By Brian Larsen of the Cook County News Herald - September 13, 2019

Cook County Administrator Jeff Cadwell announced this week he is resigning his position in the county to take a similar job in Mahnomen County. Cadwell’s last day here will be October 14. He will start in Mahnomen on October 21, where he will become the first county administrator hired by the Mahnomen board of commissioners.

The move to Mahnomen County brings Jeff back home. He served as Mahnomen city administrator and owned a home there just prior to taking the job in Cook County, which he started in late June 2015. Cadwell replaced the late Jay Kieft, who was taken by cancer after serving about one year as Cook County administrator.

Mahnomen County is similar to Cook County in population. According to the U.S. 2010 census, the population was 5,413. The county is unique in one sense; it is the only Minnesota county that lies entirely within a reservation, the White Earth Indian Reservation.

Jeff was a finalist for the Becker County administrator position that was filled in January 2019 by Mike Brethorst, who came from the city administrator position in Melrose, Minnesota.