FAIRHOPE, Ala. — Less than a week before a disciplinary hearing that could have ended his 25-year career with the police department, Capt. Steve Griffis announced his retirement last Friday.

His retirement will be effective Aug. 1, and his last day of work was June 26. Although still a city employee through July 31, Griffis will be taking unused vacation time until that date, and has cleaned out his office and turned in his city automobile, city officials said.

“Capt. Griffis is retiring,” Mayor Tim Kant said Tuesday. “He more or less said, ‘I’m worried about my family and all the issues. And now we have a new chief. I was hoping to be considered for that, but that didn’t happen, so I’d like to retire.’”

Griffis was placed on paid administrative leave May 23 by Terry Sanders, who served as interim police chief from Jan. 22 until a new chief was sworn in this week.

At the time, Kant said Sanders told him Griffis faced approximately nine charges of misconduct.

Several days after he was placed on leave, Griffis received additional notice that he also faced dismissal, according to a source who said he was a friend of Griffis and spoke with him that week.

Less than a week after that, Kant ordered Griffis reinstated, citing a department that was understaffed. A second-in-command officer at the department at the time, Griffis was placed on patrol duty and separated from any personnel who might have filed charges against him or been potential witnesses, Kant said then.

Although police disciplinary rules state that a pre-disciplinary review hearing should normally have occurred within 10 days, Griffis received an extension to July 2. That extension moved his hearing past the date when the six finalists for the chief job were interviewed for the job on June 20, and a new chief selected by the City Council on June 22.

The city’s new top law enforcement officer, Police Chief Bill Press, took the oath of office Wednesday, one day before Griffis’ July 2 pre-disciplinary review hearing was scheduled.

“They never went through the disciplinary hearing, they just decided to move forward,” Kant said. “So they never had an opportunity to discuss what he did or didn’t do.”

Kant said Griffis’ retirement benefits would not have been impacted by any disciplinary action against him, including dismissal.

City officials have not responded to the Fairhope Courier’s request for documents that would disclose the charges filed against Griffis and any settlement agreement reached between him and the city.

The city clerk said the request would be reviewed by City Attorney Marion “Tut” Wynne. But, by press time, Wynne had not responded for a request for comment regarding the status of the request.

One city official said the documents requested might not be considered public records because no final disciplinary action was apparently taken involving Griffis.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt that they are public records,” said Dennis Bailey, a Montgomery attorney and legal counsel for the Alabama Press Association. “The only question would have been while there’s an ongoing investigation or pending disciplinary action. The fact that the process is now terminated through retirement and/or an agreed settlement indicates that the records are no longer subject to that question about when to release them, and they are now subject to release. The matter’s now resolved, so there’s no reason for delaying the distribution of the material.”

Wynne recently released a document regarding a 2001 disciplinary action against Griffis. However, that document was not easily obtained and took a number of requests before the single document stating the “notice of imposition of discipline” was provided.

Griffis was hired by the police department on March 13, 1984, and is currently receiving an annual salary of $73,400, according to city records.

He received a suspension without pay of five days in December 2001, which was the only formal discipline he received during his employment with the city, according to city officials.

During the past two months, Griffis became a polarizing figure in the process to have a new police chief appointed.

When he was not selected for a short list of candidates eligible for final consideration, a sequence of events started that included a campaign to have Griffis made chief.

That campaign included sign-carrying supporters at a May 18 council meeting, at which Kant and Councilman Mike Ford signed petitions on his behalf. The meeting was attended by his wife, Robin Griffis, at which his stepson held a sign supporting Griffis for police chief.

Numerous efforts to reach Griffis since that time have been unsuccessful, with his home phone constantly busy, as it was this week. Griffis did not attend the May 18 meeting and never spoke publicly about the campaign to make him chief.

The unprecedented campaign for Griffis also involved claims by a local realtor that the effort was orchestrated by Kant and Ford with the support of a number of influential citizens and contributors to Kant’s own campaigns in the past.

That person later stated she had never initiated contact with the Fairhope Courier, or spoke with the newspaper that described in detail the plans for an outpouring of support for Griffis at the May 18 meeting. She attended that meeting and signed the petition on Griffis’ behalf, according to pictures taken of her at the meeting and of her signature on a petition.

She later threatened the newspaper that she would file a libel lawsuit if a retraction was not made. The paper did not make that retraction and heard no further comments from her.

It was only after that May 18 meeting that it was learned that Griffis had been under an internal investigation, with his suspension to follow within a week.

It is unclear at this time how the city resolved the pending disciplinary action against Griffis.

Kant said he recently assigned General Superintendent Gregg Mims to take care of any issues with the police department.

Mims did not return a phone call seeking comment about whether a settlement agreement was reached with Griffis, or regarding any other terms of his retirement, or the status of the pending disciplinary charges against him.

“(Mims) and Steve sat down and worked out their differences with the chief,” said Kant, referring to Sanders. “But mainly, after 30 years on the force without any blemish on his record, to speak of, Steve said he wanted to go out as what he’d been. He’s been a great asset to the community for 30 years.”