Lane County commissioners will vote Tuesday on a termination agreement with County Counsel Rob Bovett that would end his employment immediately “without cause,” the county said.
Lane County may give yet another county counsel a six-figure payout after he leaves his job.
County commissioners will consider a proposal to terminate, “without cause,” the employment agreement with County Counsel Rob Bovett on Tuesday, Aug. 25. Bovett will get a severance payout, as required by his employment contract, equal to the value of a year’s salary and the employer’s portion of health insurance, according to materials posted with the county’s meeting agenda.
The amount under consideration is about $275,318, plus any unused vacation time, county spokesperson Devon Ashbridge said in a statement. Ashbridge declined further comment.
If approved, the agreement would make Bovett the second county counsel since 2024 to receive a six-figure payout. In October 2024, county commissioners approved a $250,000 deal to settle a tort claim filed by former counsel Erin Pettigrew, who resigned earlier that year and filed a claim alleging workplace harassment.
The proposed order terminating Bovett’s employment contract is “without cause or comment,” the agenda materials state. The memorandum also says Bovett already has signed a settlement agreement, which isn’t attached in the agenda materials. Lookout Eugene-Springfield has submitted a public records request for that document.
Bovett declined to comment when contacted by Lookout Eugene-Springfield
The memorandum notes that when Bovett received a performance evaluation in September 2025, the board found he “exceeds expectations.”
The memorandum also states that it’s “now in the best interests” of the county and Bovett to terminate the employment agreement.
Bovett started working for Lane County in February 2025. Bovett’s experience in Oregon county legal matters goes back decades, however.
Bovett became an assistant county counsel in Lincoln County in 1992, later serving as the Lincoln County district attorney until 2014. He also worked for about eight years as the legal counsel for the Association of Oregon Counties, which lobbies state lawmakers on behalf of the state’s counties. He was a senior assistant county counsel in Washington County before joining Lane County.
County administrator’s contract
Lane County commissioners will also consider Tuesday a new contract amendment with County Administrator Steve Mokroshisky that would set the stage for him to leave his post with the county, but keeps his employment in place through the end of 2027.
Mokroshisky wasn’t immediately available for comment Monday.
Mokroshisky, who earns an annual salary of $294,049.60, has been the county administrator since 2014, a long tenure for county administrators in general and Oregon specifically.
“Steve began the conversation about planning for a smooth transition in leadership several months ago and the Board has been considering his request since early summer,” Ashbridge said in an email. “Steve is the longest-serving county administrator currently in Oregon and his twelve years here in Lane County is the longest of any serving administrator in modern Lane County history.”
Under the proposed agreement, the county and Mokroshisky would agree that no further formal performance evaluations would be conducted for the rest of the contract period. The proposal also concludes that Mokrohisky “exceeded expectations” for his last performance evaluation.
His evaluation, in which each county commissioner evaluates him separately, was part of a county investigation into workplace complaints about County Commissioner David Loveall.
Loveall gave the administrator a 1 out of 5 rating on his evaluation in August 2025. A county-commissioned report later found that rating was “unsupported by documentation.”
Loveall has disputed the findings of that county report, which concluded that he retaliated against county staff. In an ongoing federal lawsuit Loveall filed against the county, he states the low ranking was similar to prior evaluations and was not retaliation.
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