After Monday’s county commission meeting, the county will be out an administrator.

After 25 years of employment with the county, and almost eight as county administrator, Crista Madden has resigned the post.

Madden’s last day as county administrator will be Aug. 31, when she will transition to county administrator for Chilton County.

“I love my job. I love what I do,” Madden said. “A lot of people dread and hate to get up and go to work, but I can honestly say I really enjoy my job and what I do a lot.”

Although Madden said she wasn’t looking to make a move, when the opportunity fell in her lap, she couldn’t pass it up. A lot of prayer went into the decision, she added.

“My children are grown, and they don’t need their mother like they needed her when they were younger,” she said. “It’s just a great opportunity for me that came out of the blue. We felt like as a family it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.

“It hasn’t been an easy decision, but we do feel like it’s been the best decision for our future,” she added. “It’s been a wonderful 25 years. There are no regrets.”

Madden was hired into the county as accountant, and progressed to assistant administrator and then county administrator. She said there have been challenges over the years, but that overall she had been able to do her job without any problems.

“Politics is a unique thing,” Madden said. “But my job is basically the same no matter who serves as county commissioner or chairman. You have to work with everybody – and I feel like I have done that. I’ve been blessed to work with all the people I have worked with through the years.

“It’s like a roller coaster. Sometimes you’re at the top, and sometimes you’re at the bottom. You just ride the ride – enjoy the highs and endure the lows.”

Madden said she is looking forward to the new challenges at Chilton County, “but I will miss my Franklin County family.”

“I think about all the people I have worked with through the years. They are not just co-workers. They are truly friends,” Madden said – especially her “awesome staff. They have become more like my family than co-workers. They are a great group I get to work with every day here in the office. I am going to miss those girls.”

She is married to Jeff Madden, and their two children, Darby and Kody, are both students at UNA. She will go back and forth between Chilton and North Alabama, as Jeff will keep his assistant principal job at Muscle Shoals.

“Franklin County is home,” Madden said, “and it will always be home.”