Elberta Mayor Marvin Williams said the city will continue to take its time in deciding the next step in naming a permanent police chief.

“We’ll make decisions as they need to be made,” Williams said. “There’s no need to rush it. When you rush it, mistakes are made…We’ll let it slide and wait a little bit longer and go from there.”

Williams said the town will decide whether to name Interim Police Chief Julie Joyner as the permanent chief or search for a new candidate, and that decision should be made “within the next 60 days.”

“We want everything to come back to normal a little bit,” Williams said.

It has been a month since Mickey Pledger resigned as the town’s police chief. Pledger resigned on March 21 when his attorney sent an email to the town’s attorney, Ken Raines, stating the resignation, Williams said.

The Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office announced on March 4 that Pledger was arrested and charged with firing into an occupied building, filing a false police report and tampering with evidence.

Pledger filed a report that on Feb. 13 a man shot at him outside the Elberta Police Department. Pledger claims he was looking for a file in his vehicle when he spotted a man near the back of the building. Pledger said in the report that when he approached the man, a single shot was fired. Pledger said he fired a shot in return, but the suspect fled the scene on foot.

According to a released statement by the sheriff’s office, Pledger failed a polygraph exam.

Joyner became the interim police chief on March 7, and Williams raved about the job she has done.

“Since she took over as police chief, she has done a fantastic job for us,” Williams said.

There are six officers, including Joyner, in the town’s police department, Williams said.

“She’s been able to put the schedule out when we have an officer out 24 hours a day, and sometimes we have two officers out,” he said.