Douglas County’s chief building officer takes job in Ottawa

Jim Sherman, the director of the Douglas County Zoning and Codes Department, has submitted his resignation to accept the position of chief building officer for the city of Ottawa, a county official said Friday.

Sherman has been at the center of a controversy over a house that Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach was building inside a barn last year without a building permit as required by county code.

The Lawrence Journal-World reported recently that the codes department did not require Kobach to comply with several building code requirements, including paying a penalty for not having a building permit, and issued an occupancy permit despite the lack of an approved water source.

Douglas County Administrator Craig Weinaug told the Journal-World on Friday that Sherman’s resignation was not related to any departmental issues.

“The reason he is leaving is because he has accepted a job with the city of Ottawa,” Weinaug said.

An attempt to reach Sherman for further comment was not successful Friday.

Sherman said in a recent interview he became the chief building officer for Douglas County on Feb. 28 of last year. Previously he had worked in Gardner and Westwood as codes director. Prior to that he spent a number of years as a building inspector for De Soto and Lawrence.

Weinaug said he would talk to staff members regarding the director position in the interim.

“We’ll continue our efforts to enforce the code in a manner that is seen as a service to the community rather than being perceived as a department that is seeking only to be punitive,” Weinaug said Friday. “That will continue to be our focus.”

Sherman’s resignation is effective June 29.

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