Charleston County's administrator was expected to hold the county's top job through June 23 but instead left in January, and officials won't explain why she was paid $221,649 on the way out the door.

An agreement between the county and former Administrator Jennifer Miller indicates the payment was in exchange for her agreeing to not sue the county or its elected officials.

“We were kind of between a rock and a hard place," said Councilman Herb Sass. "We are all unhappy things worked out the way they did."

He declined to go into detail, saying, "She made it very clear she would sue us if we said anything bad about her.”

Miller either decided to retire or was paid to leave, depending on which County Council member is asked. Miller's employment contract, signed in 2017, did not call for a severance agreement if she decided to retire.

Charleston County administrator's separation agreement The separation agreement between Charleston County and Administrator Jennifer J. Miller

"She retired," said Council Chairman Elliott Summey. "We threw her a party."

“Jennifer worked really hard for us for 34 years and did a really good job," he said.

Although County Council discussed and approved the severance package, several council members claimed no knowledge of the circumstances of Miller's departure or refused to discuss the taxpayer-funded payment.

“All I know is that she left, she got her annual leave and she got her severance package," said Councilman Teddie Pryor. “Out of courtesy to her and what is best for the county, I’m not going to speak about that."

Councilman Brantley Moody said: "I do not comment on personnel matters. I find it is safer that way."

Repeated attempts to reach Miller on Tuesday and Wednesday were unsuccessful and messages were not returned.

Miller became Charleston County's first female administrator in 2017 after more than 30 years of working her way up in county government. On Jan. 7, her job with the county ended and she collected a check for about year's pay — a fact that both the county and Miller agreed they wouldn't disclose in her "separation of employment" agreement.

The Post and Courier obtained the agreement from the county through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Miller's separation agreement includes the $221,649 severance payment plus $2,552 to subsidize her health insurance through June. Also, $95,255 as payment for accrued annual leave — that's 939.7 hours of paid time off at $101.37 per hour.

The agreement states: "Ms. Miller agrees she would not have been entitled to these additional benefits but for the releases herein."

The "releases herein" refer to Miller agreeing to not sue the county, apply for a job with the county for at least 18 months or file employment-related claims under a variety of state and federal laws.

The county agreed to not contest any claim for unemployment benefits that Miller could file despite the county characterizing her departure in a Dec. 31 press release as a voluntary retirement.

Miller's employment contract required that she be paid through June 23 if she were terminated without cause within six months of that date. Her severance payment was more than twice that amount, and the county says she was not terminated but rather retired.

Some County Council members noted that Richland County in 2018 agreed to a $984,000 severance payment with former administrator Gerald Seals, who was fired after two years on the job. There have since been allegations that his severance package was approved when he planned to publicly air allegations about County Council members trading votes for sex with strippers.

County Councilman Vic Rawl signed Jennifer Miller's employment contract in 2017 when he was chairman of the council. Like other council members, he was reluctant to discuss her recent departure.

"The decision of council in Ms. Miller's retirement was mutually agreed upon based on the county's need to move forward, and morale issues," Rawl said.

Councilman Dickie Schweers said he would have been willing to extend Miller's contract as administrator and isn't clear on the details of her departure.

“You’re asking the wrong person, because I wasn’t necessarily on board with having her leave," he said. "There was some urgency that wasn't really explained to me."

The county's top job has been filled temporarily by Bill Tuten, a senior project liaison who had been with the county since the summer of 2015.

Tuten was Lowcountry Regional Director for U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham for 12 years before taking the county job.