By Larry Jones
August 5, 2002

During the 67th annual conference of the National Association of Counties in New Orleans July 12 - 16, county delegates from across the nation elected Dallas County (TX) Commissioner Kenneth A. Mayfield as president. Mayfield was first elected to the NACo leadership team in 1999 when he was elected as second vice president. He succeeds Santa Fe (NM) County Commissioner Javier Gonzales, who made history last year when he became the first Hispanic to serve as NACo president.

Mayfield has served on the Dallas County Board of Commissioners since 1994 representing a district which includes the cities of Irving, Grand Praire, DeSota and a number of other small cities. Before his election to the Board, he served as assistant district attorney for Dallas County and eventually became the chief of the juvenile division of the District Attorneys Office. Within NACo, Mayfield served in a number of leadership roles including chair of the organization's Law Enforcement Subcommittee, and he played an active role as a member of the Large Urban County Caucus.

County delegates also elected Boone County (MO) Commissioner Karen Miller as president- elect, Lake County (IL) Board Member Angelo Kyle as first-vice president and Umatilla County (OR) Commissioner Bill Hansell as the second vice president. Santa Fe County Commissioner Javier Gonzales is the immediate past president.