Brunell said Thursday afternoon that the law Curtin referred to applies to full-time positions, not his part-time assessor position.

He said if he does not get his keys back today and is not allowed back to his office, he will sue the county.

"I can't believe the legislature keeps making these moves that will cost the county taxpayers money," he said.

Brunell hired local attorney Mark Schneider to represent him. Schneider said that only the governor can remove an elections commissioner and it can be done only after proper notice is given and hearings are held.

"The legislature has no authority to remove him and take his keys," Schneider said. "This is outrageous."

Brunell to resign

While the legislature may have approved a replacement for Bruno, Brunell was taken out of the office Thursday morning before he could officially appoint Susan Castine to the job, keeping the position vacant.

With Brunell out of the office and a third Democratic worker on vacation, no Democrats were working in the office Thursday.

Thursday night, Brunell decided that he would resign from his assessor's job on Friday so he can get his keys back and return to work in the Election Office.

"It's the only way I can get back to work for now," he said.

"I need to get in there and help Democrats because we have an election coming up."

Brunell said his lawsuit will not only seek damages for being removed from his county position, but will seek his reinstatement as assessor and damages for having to give up that job.

Langley said the whole situation could have and should have been avoided by Democrats themselves.

"We don't need these problems," Langley said.

"We have things in the county that need to be done, and we don't want to be tied down with this. This could have been handled a lot cleaner."