*EDITOR’S NOTE — AUGUST 25, 2026:
Following publication of this story, former Doña Ana County Manager Dr. Scott Andrews contacted Las Cruces Today and requested that additional context regarding the circumstances surrounding the conclusion of his employment be included with our original report.
The original story below was based on information provided by Doña Ana County and the official action taken by the Doña Ana County Board of County Commissioners. Las Cruces Today has not altered the original story.
In the interest of providing additional context and allowing Dr. Andrews an opportunity to present his account, his statement is published in its entirety following the original story. His remarks have not been edited for wording, spelling, grammar or content.
ORGIONAL STORY:
LAS CRUCES — The Doña Ana County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted Tuesday to terminate the employment contract of County Manager Scott Andrews, effective immediately.
County officials said Andrews was terminated “without cause” and will receive six months of salary under the terms of his employment contract and a signed separation agreement. The county did not announce a specific reason for the decision or name an interim replacement.
“Without cause” does not mean the county found that Andrews did something wrong, nor does it establish misconduct or poor performance. In this context, it means the commission exercised a provision in his individual employment agreement that allowed it to end the contract without formally alleging or proving a violation of the contract. In exchange, the agreement provides the specified severance payment.
Andrews was a contract employee appointed directly by the commission, rather than a regular county employee covered by the county’s standard personnel system. He began the job in October 2024 after being selected through a national search. Reporting when his contract was approved showed an initial annual salary of $220,000, along with other benefits and contract terms.
The announcement comes after months of public scrutiny surrounding county operations. A state special audit released in May identified systemic concerns involving governance, internal controls, operational effectiveness and accountability, although the audit examined county operations over a period that began before Andrews took office.
Andrews and county leadership also faced criticism over the handling of Project Jupiter agreements, including concerns about public transparency and the use of nondisclosure agreements during negotiations. Separately, news reporting in May documented commissioners’ frustration when the county was not prepared to present a finalized emergency health-care contract for the Doña Ana County Detention Center.
None of those matters was cited by the commission Tuesday as the reason for Andrews’ termination, and the county’s release did not identify a cause.
The commission said it will begin determining its next steps for county leadership and will release additional information as it becomes available.
John Krehbiel – Bravo Mic Communications News – john@bravomic.com
* STATEMENT FROM DR. SCOTT ANDREWS:
I initiated the process of leaving Doña Ana County and submitted my proposed separation agreement to both the Chair and to the County Attorney on July 13th, after another negative incident in the community on July 11th (this time involving my family). The Board would go on to take action on July 21. Because my employment agreement did not contain a mechanism for that type of early departure, the Board subsequently invoked the contract’s termination-without-cause provision to formally conclude the employment relationship.
This chronology was later publicly clarified by Doña Ana County Commission Chair Manuel Sanchez. KVIA subsequently updated its original reporting to note that I approached the Board about leaving and that the contractual termination provision was used because the agreement lacked an early-departure mechanism. The Albuquerque Journal also reported the prior submission of the separation agreement and the County’s explanation of the contractual process.
I am not requesting that your organization remove or alter the fact that the Board ultimately voted to terminate the employment agreement without cause. My request is simply that the reporting also reflect the preceding chronology and full picture, so that readers have a complete understanding. My contract was just unanimously reapproved a few months ago, and I certainly had not received any documented discipline. I initiated the separation process, not the other way around.