SOUTH BEND — Joyce Kidd, who won a third term last month to continue serving as Pacific County’s auditor for another four years, announced her intention on Tuesday to retire from the position on March 31.

Kidd’s forthcoming retirement was disclosed at the Pacific County Board of Commissioners’ regularly scheduled meeting on Dec. 13, just ahead of the Observer’s print deadline for this week. Kidd did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Kidd first won election as auditor unopposed in 2014, replacing her boss, incumbent Pat Gardner, who forewent seeking another term in office and retired. She subsequently ran unopposed in 2018 and again just this past month.

Kidd’s career in public service began in 1990, when she was hired as an emergency dispatcher in the Pacific County Sheriff’s Office. Born and raised in South Bend, she also had short stints working in North District Court and the assessor’s office, before landing in the elections department of the auditor’s office. Her work involved commuting to the office’s Long Beach location for more than a decade, until her election as auditor in 2014.

As the county auditor position is a partisan elective office, despite Kidd most recently declaring no party preference in her most recent election, the county commissioners have the authority to appoint Kidd’s successor following her retirement next spring. State law states that the commissioners may appoint an employee that is serving as a deputy or assistant in the auditor’s office at the time of the vacancy.

That acting official will serve until a successor is elected, and may run for the post themselves. Because Kidd’s retirement will take effect March 31, it will be included among the positions up for election during the May 15-19 filing period and appear on the August primary and November general election ballots in 2023. The elected individual will then serve out the remainder of the original term, through 2026.