Elkhart ? Some Morton County voters are protesting a move that keeps the sheriff in office even though he lost his re-election bid.

Loren Youngers, a 16-year veteran of the sheriff’s post in the extreme southwest Kansas county, was defeated in the Republican primary in August by GOP challenger Tom Thrall. The incumbent waged a general election write-in campaign in hopes of keeping his job, but Thrall won again in November.

But just two weeks after winning office, Thrall wrote County Clerk Mary Gilmore to announce he would not take office in January.

Filling the vacancy was up to the Morton County Republican Party and 19 of the 22 precinct committee members took part in a vote Wednesday, said Warren Bowker, one of the members.

After three rounds of balloting from a field of around 10 potential sheriffs, the party chose Youngers, the man voters chose to deny another term.

The decision was forwarded to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius for a formal appointment, but it didn’t come without outcry.

By 5 p.m. Thursday, the governor’s office received about 30 calls and e-mails from angry Morton County residents and a petition signed by 125 people, according to Nicole Corcoran, a spokeswoman for Sebelius.

Corcoran said the governor is limited in what she can do. State law says even if Sebelius doesn’t sign Youngers’ formal appointment papers, the party nominee becomes the de facto appointee after a week.

Thrall entered the sheriff’s race last spring, as the prospect of layoffs loomed at his employer, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. Thrall did not lose his job; he is moving to Casper, Wyo., to continue work for the company, according to a co-worker, Paula Koski.

Youngers, 49, was the subject of criticism this year after an alleged display of force by state and local authorities during a search for bodies at a Morton County farm. No bodies were found there.