FAIRHOPE, Alabama—Alabama law requires that the search for Fairhope’s new police chief  be a transparent one, according to the general counsel for the Alabama Press Association.

That means that all applications for the job are public records and interviews for positions required to file economic interest forms with the Alabama Ethics Commission (such as for the Fairhope police chief job) must be done in open meetings, said Dennis Bailey, a Montgomery attorney and lawyer for the APA.

That transparent process was how it was done in 2009 when the City Council selected former Chief Bill Press, who resigned shortly after the new council was elected in September. Former Capt. Joe Petties has served as interim chief since that time.

But on Nov. 26 when The Courier asked the council, during the public participation period at its meeting that night, how the process would be handled this time, neither the council nor the city attorney would confirm that the process would be a transparent one.

Councilman Rich Mueller did say the council would check with the city’s human resources director for advice on how the process should be conducted. And Council President Jack Burrell said the public would be informed about the timing and nature of the decision-making process.

Mayor Tim Kant said that a large number of applications had been received from different parts of the country. 

“Once all the applications are put in place they will be put in a form and analyzed by HR,” Kant said. “And then we will make sure all the qualified applicants are listed. Then I will be working with the two liaisons, who I believe are two council members that are appointed who represent the police and judicial branches. I’ll work with them and come up with a slate of three to four names, maybe five, for them to interview.”

The application period for the job started Oct. 17 and ended last Friday. The position pays $80,000 a year. Positions which pay more than $50,000 a year are required to file “ethics forms,” which means that the interview process for the Fairhope police chief must be conducted in the open, according to Bailey.

The six-month-long selection process in 2009 was conducted by a council-appointed committee that included the mayor and involved several rounds of phone and in-person interviews, all of which were open to the public.

But the mayor is playing more of a direct role this time, for the position that the council will select, including advertising the position and its qualifications prior to the new council taking office and without its input.

“There’s total understanding that the council is to make that final determination,” Burrell said at the Nov. 26 meeting. “We do want to select an applicant that can work with the mayor and work with all of us.”

Kant said recently that some names familiar to Fairhope residents and local political watchers have applied for the job including former Chief Chris Browning and former Capt. Steve Griffis.