COEUR d'ALENE - Kootenai County commissioners have rescinded a resolution that previously ended Chief Public Defender John Adams' 17-year run in the office come September.

During their regular business meeting on Tuesday two of the three-member commission - Todd Tondee and Dan Green - voted to rescind Resolution 2013-26 that passed unanimously last month.

Passage of that resolution generated a considerable backlash in the legal community statewide, prompting two legal organizations and even some of Adams' legal adversaries to cry foul.

Contacted after Tuesday's meeting, Adams declined comment, saying he had recently learned of the commissioners' decision and needed some time to process it before talking with the media. He plans to make a statement in the future.

During Tuesday's meeting Tondee and Green replaced the original resolution with Resolution 2013-29, which essentially removed language that ended Adams' tenure on Sept. 30 of this year.

"The whole board did not know of Adams' medical condition," explained Tondee, the commission chair. "He (Adams) told me about his condition confidentially, and in confidence, I kept that information from the rest of the board."

The Press reported previously that Adams had informed Tondee of his cancer diagnosis two weeks prior to the resolution. Adams also informed the commissioner that he would be needing time off periodically to undergo treatment.

Green said if he had been made aware of that medical information at the time, it certainly would have influenced his decision to end Adams' term in the office.

"It was never my intention to add undue pressure on anyone with a serious medical condition like that," he said.

According to a press release, once the entire board was made aware of Adams' medical condition, "it was in the best interest of all concerned ... that the previous resolution be superseded to eliminate the reference to expiration of the term of public defender."

While Commissioner Jai Nelson was not present in the meeting, the release stated the decision was made by the "board as a whole."

Nelson, who had been accused of allegedly harassing Adams in the past, was out of the office on Tuesday and could not be reached for comment.

The commission still plans to continue its comprehensive study of the public defender's system in Kootenai County "in a effort to most effectively provide for the representation of needy persons," the release stated.