BAY MINETTE, Ala. — The candidate who accepted contracts last month to direct emergency management in Baldwin County and the state of Nevada has rejected both posts and has been hired at another agency, according to Gail Powell, public information officer for the Nevada Department of Public Safety.

“She accepted a job elsewhere,” Powell said Wednesday. “We don’t know where.”

Karen Blackwood, a Atoka, Tenn., resident who has been an emergency management officer for the U.S. Navy since June 2007, topped a list of 71 candidates to take over the Baldwin County Emergency Management Agency. She was interviewed and hired June 17 by the Baldwin County Commission at an annual salary of $97,000.

Three days earlier, Blackwell signed a contract with the Nevada agency for about $10,000 a year more.

In a June 19 email, Blackwood resigned the Baldwin County post, citing concerns about a six-month interim contract, year-to-year contract renewal and “historical issues” with the position.

Blackwood was apparently referring to a critical assessment earlier this year by the state EMA, and the abrupt resignation of director Melvin Stringfellow in April.

“This is most disappointing to know that we may have apparently or perhaps just been a pawn in the process of an individual’s effort to enhance a career,” Commission Chairman Frank Burt earlier said, referring to Blackwood’s prior acceptance of another offer.

Blackwood could not be reached for comment.