ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
April Warden has been the administrator for Seward County for many years, and prior to that, she was already working as the county’s human resources director for a few years as well.
This means Warden has been serving in both roles for many years, and recently, she got some help on the HR side of things with the hiring of a new director in that department.
Angela Johnston is a fourth-generation Seward County resident and a third-generation graduate of Liberal High School with more than 16 years experience as a corporate accountant in the private sector.
Johnston’s work was with both large corporations and small businesses, and she worked to establish efficient processes, implement automation to improve standard operating procedures, ensure proper licensing and create appropriate tax entities.
Johnston likewise has an extensive background in HR, serving as an administrator for payroll, integrating timekeeping systems with payroll to eliminate manual data entry, conducting detailed payroll and benefits and leading integrations during human resources information system implementations.
“I oversaw interviews, hiring processes, onboarding and the new hires,” she said.
After living in Dallas for 23 years, Johnston has now returned home to Southwest Kansas, bringing her private-sector and HR experience to the community where she was raised and has chosen to raise her children. She said thus far, this has been a meaningful transition.
“I’m very excited to be here, and I value the opportunity to apply that background in service to the county,” she said.
Johnston said she was drawn to HR because it truly brings people, policy and problem solving together.
“I like puzzles,” she said. “This role allows me to support employees through important moments in their careers while maintaining fairness, consistency and compliance across the organization. HR plays a key role in balancing the needs of employees with the responsibilities of the organization, ensuring safety, accountability and clear expectations, and the balance is what really appealed to me and led me down this road.”
Johnston was hired in late 2025, and she said so far, the job has kept her quite busy.
“I’ve hit the ground running,” she said. “I’ve made a point to meet people from all the departments, which has helped me gain understanding of the organization and how they all work together and all the work being done. “
Johnston said she likes the warmth, welcoming and friendliness she has been shown so far, and that openness has made the transition to her role as the county’s HR director a smooth one.
“I appreciate everybody’s willingness to work with me, to ask questions and to be willing to collaborate, and it’s helped me get my feet wet and get comfortable,” she said.
Johnston’s primary goal as HR director is to build strong consistent practices that will essentially support both the employees and the county.
“I want to ensure we have clear communication, compliance and fairness, while also being a resource employees feel comfortable approaching,” she said. “Long term, my goal is to strengthen the processes, support leadership and help create a workplace where people can do their best work and feel supported in what they do.”
Recent issues with the county’s budget have created a lack of transparency for some, and Johnston said transparency is built through clear communication, consistency and follow through.
“One of my goals is to ensure policies, expectations and processes are clearly communicated and easily accessible to both employees and leadership,” she said. “I want to help strengthen documentation and ensure decisions are made consistently and in alignment with policy and applicable laws. By being open about our processes, responsive to questions and proactive in sharing information where appropriate, I think we can continue to build trust and improve transparency across the county.”
Johnston said while the county continues to be mindful of budget constraints, leaders are aware of the need to tighten belts.
“Recruitment efforts are still ongoing,” she said. “We do have open positions, but each vacancy is being reviewed very carefully to ensure it aligns with operational needs and available resources.”
Johnston said the county’s focus at this time is on filling roles that are essential to maintaining services, while also being thoughtful and strategic about staffing decisions.
“This approach will ultimately allow the county to remain fiscally responsible while also continuing to support the critical functions,” she said.
Johnston said staffing needs vary across the departments, but the demand is typically in positions that directly support county services.
“This includes public works such as Road and Bridge, emergency services, landfill and other operational roles that keep the day-to-day services running,” she said. “While recruitment needs fluctuate, the county continues to evaluate staffing levels carefully to ensure critical services are maintained, while remaining mindful of budget considerations.”
Both Johnston and Warden agree the county’s greatest asset are its people, and Johnston said in addition to being employees of the county, they are also residents of the county.
“There’s a strong sense of dedication and knowledge, and the longevity some of the employees have here is really incredible,” she said. “It creates a unique connection to the work they do when they’re serving their own community and their own neighbors, and the level of investment shows in the level of care and professionalism they bring every day to work. Seeing people who truly love what they’re doing and knowing they serve a greater purpose, it’s an honor to work with people like that.”
Johnston said she is very excited to be back in Seward County.
“There’s a strong foundation here. My family has been here for years, and I see a lot of opportunity to build on all of that, especially with collaboration, transparency and continued support for our employees,” she said. “Being able to contribute to the county’s process, especially in a community where I have so many personal ties, is something I feel very strongly and am very proud to be a part of.”
Warden too is excited to have Johnston on board with the county, and she said after a turbulent 2025, much was learned, and she hopes the county can build on that knowledge.
“I am determined to be positive and not look for the negative in every situation,” Warden said. “Hopefully, we can be on an intentional path forward.”
With three new commissioners in place since the start of 2026, Warden said the county needs to revisit its mission and vision goals with the new board, and she said for the county and its employees, there needs to be a stable foundation and a path forward.
“It’s been a little rocky,” she said. “I will say I’ve been provided the resources in allowing me to hire an HR director, and they’ve also provided an assistant county administrator with Brock Theiner.”
Warden likewise praised the work of her executive assistant, Hillary Franco, in allowing her to delegate responsibilities, which she said will allow the county to rebuild trust and develop leadership skills with staff.
“I want to be able to increase engagement and momentum we once had, and I want to do that in 2026,” Warden said. “We’ve acknowledged the past, the negative impact it’s had on us. We’ve reflected on that, and I want to reroute that energy and enforce positive behaviors and maintain momentum. Ultimately, I feel that will lead us to being stronger and a more united community as well.”
As for how she feels about having some of the weight off her shoulders with an HR director now in place, Warden used one word – relief.
“Anytime you’re properly staffed, it helps from being overwhelmed and burned out and you worrying about all your other staff going through that as well,” she said. “With Angela on board, it provides reliable, uninterrupted operations.”
Warden too said she does not feel she is being pulled in as many directions now.
“There was always a lot of last-minute scrambling and feeling you were being pulled in different directions,” she said. “You weren’t really doing anything at your best because you were just trying to survive a day.”
Now, Warden said she feels she can focus more on her duties as an administrator.
“It’s allowed me to complete my work more effectively and efficiently without the constant pressure to have to juggle too many priorities at once, and I can dedicate more time to just being a county administrator,” she said.
Warden said HR is the backbone to any organization, particularly when dealing with many employees spread over a wide area.
“We have offices for different departments on every side of the county,” she said.
Human resources entangles many responsibilities from recruitment and retention to legal compliance with money and employment laws, as providing positive culture and morale, performance and productivity issues, employee development and strategic planning, and Warden said she was not able to do all of that while handling her duties as administrator.
With Johnston’s background and skills, though, Warden said these tasks can now be accomplished.
“Without HR, you deal with a lot of turnover, Warden said. “We deal with a lot of turnover anyway, especially with workforce issues these days. That’s issues every organization deals with. An onboarding and exiting process is vital to recruiting people and developing them from day one when they come on board, and if they exit and they’re leaving us, why? What is it we could’ve made better? I feel that’s a process they can really work on. She’ll be able to monitor absenteeism a little better, along with overtime. That can cost an organization a lot of money.”
Warden said HR is strategically managing human capital, driving the growth, building a strong culture and ensuring the county is going to thrive.
“We’ll talk a lot about mission, vision goals, having a new commission and how we’ll be able to align with that,” she said.
Warden said Johnston has made an immediate impact, and she is a natural fit for the county.
“You would’ve thought she had been here forever and knew everybody,” Warden said. “She has that personality. Everybody’s drawn to her and trusted in her from the get go. She’s only been here a month, and I feel she’s already formed those relationships and that trust with people.”
Warden said Johnston has required little in the way of supervision or direction from her.
“She jumps in there and figures things out,” Warden said. “She knows how to utilize the resources she has with our HR system, and she’s not afraid to reach out to those companies and find out what she needs to know.”
Warden also said the transition to Johnston as HR director has been a smooth one.
“She’s very energetic,” Warden said. “She’s already shown great support to the department heads. They are reaching out to her already, and she has helped with the overall atmosphere. I’m really glad she’s here.”
Warden said when she was hired as administrator, she began helping with budget issues, which she said are never new, and the decision was made to keep her as both the HR director and administrator. This, however, turned from what was intended to be temporary into years serving in both capacities, and much has changed over those years.
“While we still have a lot of long-term employees who have been with us for years, there’s still a lot of turnover, and that has affected payroll and Juan’s job too,” she said referring to Payroll and Benefits Technician Juan Meza. “You’re constantly onboarding people, exiting people. You have to change their benefits. You’re making changes in payroll. It puts a lot of added process to a lot of things.”
Warden said covering both positions required her to change focus between vastly different issues throughout the day.
“Thankfully, I had the background, and I was able to do that,” she said. “Another positive for me is I’d worked for the county for 25 years in different capacities throughout those years. It helped me be able to know how the operations and functions of how the county worked from having background and experience with the different departments.”
Warden said covering both positions likewise meant being involved in all of the major conflicts affecting the county.
“It definitely created a difficult balancing act,” she said. “I’m thankful Angela’s here and can handle the HR side of things.”
Warden said being in both positions also required a lot of time management and prioritizing.
“You had to be organized,” she said. “Communication’s a key, as well as long hours and an amazing support system. I have a very supportive family and friends. That helps.”
Warden said Seward County has many good people working to provide services to constituents, and the county’s department heads in particularly have expertise in their areas.
“We have to trust them and rely on them to do their jobs,” she said. “I can’t know everything as the county administrator. I rely on them, and without them, I wouldn’t be able to be successful either. Strong leaders and mentors in our community help too. I have a lot of people in the community I lean on and some former commissioners and a lot of faith and a lot of prayer.”
Anytime new commissioners are brought on, the county’s vision and mission need to be readdressed, and with the new members now in place, Warden said the county has a solid foundation of what the commission wants to do with the budget. She hopes this will allow the county to have a defined path forward in how to get there and what to do.
“I think it’ll be a relief to everybody to know this is what it’s going to be,” she said. “This is what we have to work within, and let’s go forward.”
