The city of Henderson’s new human resources director previously spent eight years working at the Henderson County Detention Center.
In that position, Megan McElfresh said many HR issues there were handled internally, such as hiring, disciplining, terminations, counseling and investigations, and as the chief of inmate service branch she dealt with these regularly. She gained good experience for her new position, she said.
McElfresh worked at the HCDC from 2015-2023. Her current position is with the city’s Parks and Recreation Department as the program recreation manager.
The Henderson City Commission approved her appointment Tuesday with a 4-0 vote. McElfresh starts as HR director on March 18.
She will replace Connie Galloway who will retire later in the summer after a 19-year career with the city.
Until Galloway moves on, she will train McElfresh.
Galloway said there are roughly 400 employees that the city’s HR department works with. City HR also handles some but not all of the HR issues for the Henderson Water Utility, Henderson Municipal Power and Light and the Henderson-Henderson County Joint Planning Commission.
“There’s a lot to it,” Galloway said. “(But) we have a fabulous department.”
Galloway said she commends city staff and the commission for instituting succession planning, which is allowing experienced department heads to stay on and train new hires for months before they leave. One example is Finance Director Robert Gunter, who has stayed on for a couple months after Chelsea Mills was hired to take his place in December.
McElfresh will directly oversee four employees within the HR department.
McElfresh said she was “excited” but has “big shoes to fill.”
McElfresh earned a bachelor’s degree in 2020 from Murray State University, while attending classes through its Henderson campus. She also attended MSU for her master’s in public administration degree, which she earned in 2022. She is a 2009 graduate of Henderson County High School.
She said as a native Hendersonian she wanted to give something back to the community and believes that working with the city is a good way to do that.
