Santa Fe County Corrections Director Annabelle Romero was fired Wednesday morning.

"They gave me no reason," a tearful Romero said in a phone interview Wednesday. "They just called me in and gave me a real short letter."

Romero -- who has overseen the county jail for the last five years -- said her termination might have something to do with two articles in the weekly Santa Fe Reporter. One of the stories, which was published in July 2011, reported on the possibility that the county might privatize medical care at the jail. The other reported on the "checkered past" of Romero's boss, Pablo Sedillo III, who was recently hired to fill the newly created position of public safety director.

According to the Feb. 15 story, Sedillo had been terminated from his job as warden of a jail in Arizona after conditions at that facility became so dangerous that officials couldn't tour the jail.

Romero said she did not have anything to do with either article, but she said Sedillo's attitude toward her seemed to change after the first article was published, and he began disciplining her for what she saw as minor infractions.

Romero said Wednesday that during a meeting about a contract for medical care at the jail, County Manager Katherine Miller "started screaming at me and none of us knew why." Romero said Miller screamed at her for "a long time, like 30 minutes or so."

After the meeting, Romero said, one of her employees resigned to take another job and advised Romero to do the same.

"I felt like they were trying to create a record," Romero said. "To create a record against me or to frustrate me into resigning."

Romero noted that Sedillo and his father, Pablo Sedillo II, a longtime staffer of Sen. Jeff Bingaman's office, had pressured her several years ago to hire the younger Sedillo, but she had refused. "He wanted a high salary, and I didn't have any openings," Romero said. "So I was worried about that."

The elder Sedillo refuted Romero's comments Wednesday, saying he only met Romero once -- while touring the county jail at the invitation of then county manager Roman Abeyta -- and never spoke to her about hiring his son.

Sedillo II said he felt Romero made the comment in an attempt to plant a seed in people's minds that her firing was politically motivated.

County spokeswoman Kristine Mihelcic said Romero was an at-will employee, which gives the county the right to fire her at any time with or without cause. Mihelcic said the county would not comment on Romero's firing because it was a personnel issue.

Romero was hired in May 2006 and led the Corrections Department during a three-year period when the county was being monitored for compliance with a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice aimed at curing deficiencies in medical and mental health care at the jail.

Dr. Susan Cave, a clinical and forensic psychologist who performs inmate evaluations for the First Judicial District Court and formerly headed the county's now defunct Corrections Advisory Committee, said Romero did a good job of reforming conditions at the jail.

"She inherited a disaster," Cave said. "Medical was horrible. People were being assaulted, there were all those complaints about booking, suicides at the jail, and she came in and put the whole thing back together in three years. So now it runs smoothly and more efficiently. People are not dying in our jail now."

Cave -- who was quoted in The Reporter story that examined Sedillo's past -- said she felt Romero was fired in retaliation for the articles and because Romero was resistant to the idea of privatizing medical care.

"I think that's what this is all about," Cave said, "is getting private medical care at the jail."

Mihelcic said the county does get proposals from companies interested in contracting to provide medical care at the jail from time to time, but it is not actively considering privatizing the care.

Romero was paid about $100,000 a year.

Pablo Sedillo III said Wednesday that he'll take over as director of corrections until the county administration decides if and when to hire a new director.

Contact Phaedra Haywood at 986-3068 or phaywood@sfnewmexican.com.