WHEATLAND -- The Platte County Commission voted unanimously on Thursday to accept County Attorney Mary Eikenberry's resignation, which she sought to withdraw earlier in the week.

Eikenberry said she believed the commission lacked the authority to remove her from office.

"I believe that you are well beyond your authority," Eikenberry said before the commissioners voted. "I don't see anything in the statute that gives you the authority to do what you are doing."

She said afterward that she intended to remain in office and perform the work she was elected to do.

"My plans are to be at work this afternoon and be at work tomorrow morning and be at work Monday morning," she said.

She predicted that the vote would come back to haunt the commissioners.

"The voters won't forget," she said.

The commissioners didn't discuss their reasons for accepting her resignation, other than to cite actions they had already taken.

An attorney for the commissioners, David Evans, of Cheyenne, said in particular that the commission had notified the county Republican Party on May 3 of the county attorney vacancy.

"They felt that they had already acted on the resignation, and I concurred with them from a legal standpoint," Evans said.

Evans also said that he had been in contact with Eikenberry's attorney, Bruce Moats, and was asking that Eikenberry remove her personal items from the county attorney's office.

Asked what would be done if Eikenberry doesn't leave office, Evans said: "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

Afterward, the commission hired Evans to advise them on civil matters and hired Tillie Routh to handle prosecution in the interim. Routh was the deputy prosecutor who resigned last week.

Eikenberry defeated incumbent Eric Alden in last summer's Republican primary, then ran unopposed in the general election. But her office and her performance have been the subject of controversy almost since she took office in January.

Last week, all four employees in Eikenberry's office -- Routh and three legal assistants -- resigned. Two days later, Eikenberry submitted her resignation.

But on Monday, Eikenberry presented the county with another letter withdrawing her resignation. In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, she said that since the commission hadn't formally accepted her resignation during a duly called public meeting, she was within her legal rights to withdraw it.

Critics have complained that Eikenberry has dismissed dozens of criminal cases in the four months she's been in office, and at least one formal complaint has been filed against Eikenberry based on one of those case dismissals.

Her supporters say she's been undermined since she took the job and hasn't been given a chance to settle in to the office. In her letter of resignation last week, Eikenberry said: "The events of the past four months have made it clear that I will not be allowed to succeed as Platte County attorney."