Amid rumors of his resignation that have swirled the last week, Seagle was absent from the meeting and Vice Chair Tanner Lawson assumed Seagle's regular seat.

Seagle, a Republican, has operated Kevin Seagle Ministries since 2013. He is a building inspector by trade and since 2023 has owned and operated a development consultancy called Smoky Mountain Consultative Services. 

First elected to the Swain commission in 2018, Seagle finished second in a field of four with just enough votes to claim one of two seats on commission that year. In 2022, Seagle ousted incumbent Chair Ben Bushyhead with 58% of the vote.

Seagle’s absence wasn’t mentioned until the end of the Aug. 19 meeting.

“I’m sure all of you got the letter,” Lawson said. “We are working with the attorney and [University of North Carolina] School of Government to make sure the process that has to happen will be right. We want to make sure that we do it the right way. I want to make sure we do it right and do it legal.”

Despite the ambiguity of that statement, Sheriff Kirkland confirmed the resignation date following the meeting.

Swain is one of very few counties that elects a county commission chair in a contest separate from the election of other commissioners, making it unclear as to who might be eligible to fill Seagle’s role on the board.

In 42 of North Carolina’s 100 counties, when a partisan elected official leaves office early, the governing body must appoint as a replacement the candidate recommended by the executive committee of the political party to which the departing official belongs. Swain, however, isn’t one of those counties, per NCGS 153A-27.1.

Whoever the replacement will be, they will only serve out the remainder of Seagle’s term, and the seat will be up for election in 2026.