CANTON: Stark County’s embattled treasurer resigned Wednesday as part of a settlement that will give him back wages and pay some of his legal bills.The county will release Gary Zeigler from liability for most of a $1.86 million judgment against him over money stolen by a former employee.Stark County commissioners approved the settlement Wednesday and immediately appointed Alexander Zumbar as interim treasurer.Zumbar was elected treasurer in November, but was removed from office by a June 23 decision by the Ohio Supreme Court that reversed the county commissioners’ earlier action to remove Zeigler from office.Since his reinstatement, Zeigler has operated in a legal limbo. Although he was reinstated by the court, he was not covered by the bond required for him to hold the office.Because Zeigler did not have a bond, county Auditor Alan Harold denied him access to the county’s computer system, limited his phone use and refused to pay him. Zeigler was in the office periodically.Financial terms of the settlement are: • The county will pay $175,000 to the law firm that successfully argued for Zeigler’s reinstatement before the Ohio Supreme Court. Total legal fees are estimated at $400,000.• Hartford Fire Insurance Co. will pay the county $215,000 on a $250,000 bond it held covering Zeigler’s second term in office.• Zeigler will pay the county $10,000 to partially compensate the county for the shortfall in the Hartford bond payment.• The county will pay Zeigler back wages of $79,154 for the time between Aug. 23, 2010, when commissioners removed him from office, and Wednesday. After standard deductions, his net pay will be $35,073. The county will garnish 25 percent of that, or $8,768. After subtracting the $10,000 listed above, the county will write Zeigler a check for $16,305.• The county will release Zeigler from all but $250,000 of a $1.86 million judgment that held him responsible for repaying money stolen by a former employee.The employee, former chief deputy treasurer Vincent Frustaci, is serving a 10-year federal sentence after admitting to the theft of $2.46 million from the treasurer’s office. A state audit found nearly $3 million was missing. The county has recovered $1.27 million from bonding companies and a bank.The county is retaining its claim of $250,000 against Zeigler to compensate the county if it is not successful in collecting on a bond covering his first full term in office. The county is in litigation with the bonding company, Continental Casualty Co.Zeigler, who began his career as treasurer with a 1999 appointment, said in his letter of resignation, ‘‘I have faithfully performed my duties for each of my terms of office and have always placed the best interests of the citizens of Stark County ahead of my own.’’Commissioners Janet Weir Creighton and Thomas Bernabei said the settlement paid Zeigler no more than the county was obliged to give him through court orders — back pay and attorneys’ fees.Creighton said the cost of protracted litigation against Zeigler would have kept growing without the settlement.“It’s a good business decision,” said Commissioner Peter Ferguson.