Megan Turrill, who was appointed chief legal officer of the ASUC for the upcoming academic year, has resigned from the position because of personal reasons.

In accordance with ASUC bylaws, Alek Klimek has been appointed by ASUC President Will Morrow and ASUC Executive Vice President Alicia Lau to be the interim chief legal officer for the summer. Klimek was the former chief legal officer for the 2015-16 academic year and has extensive experience with the ongoing projects that the ASUC is currently conducting.

“(As chief legal officer) I will primarily focus on recruiting and retaining staff, carrying out any incidental matters that come up and bridging ongoing projects from the previous year,” Klimek said in an email.

One project that Klimek will be carrying over from the previous year is the enforcement of Proposition A from the 2016 ASUC elections. Proposition A — or the Constitutional Clarity and Consistency Amendment — seeks to clarify and amend the ASUC Constitution by resolving loopholes and inconsistencies within the document.

Morrow and Lau’s appointment is solely on an interim basis, Morrow said, and the ASUC Senate will appoint the permanent officeholder. Morrow noted, however, that the specific appointment process has not yet been finalized.

“Given his experience, his devotion to nonpartisanship and the fact that there are a lot of projects from last term transitioning to summer, we appointed him for the interim,” Morrow said of Klimek.

The chief legal officer serves as the primary point of contact for any internal administrative issues within the ASUC and also works to ensure that the association adheres to the ASUC bylaws and constitution, according to the constitution.

According to Morrow, the permanent chief legal officer can be nominated in two ways. The Senate could choose to either create a nominating committee during the summer to appoint a permanent officer immediately or allow the Governance and Internal Affairs Committee — after they conduct a series of interviews — to nominate a candidate in the fall for the Senate to confirm.

Morrow likened the nomination process to a presidential supreme court appointment, in that an ASUC committee proposes a candidate for confirmation by the ASUC Senate, in the same way that the U.S. president proposed a candidate for confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

“It is imperative that we have someone who is qualified when it comes to the new spaces and memorandum for the MLK basement project, as well as for preparing the annual governing documents review,” Morrow said.

Morrow also stressed that the permanent chief legal officer should be bipartisan and well-versed with the ASUC Constitution and bylaws.

“There are several members of the Legal Office from last year who are continuing this year and would be good candidates for the position,” Klimek said in an email.