FAIRHOPE, Ala. — A city committee has narrowed the search for the next police chief.

The list of 10 applicants includes five current or former police chiefs, three police captains and two federal law enforcement officers from Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee, according to city records.

“I’m very pleased with the selection process,” said Councilman Dan Stankoski, who organized the search committee for the council. “I think all the committee members have been very conscientious and diligent in working through a large group of 116 applications.”

The new city council chose not to reappoint Mike Comalander as police chief, who remains a captain with the department. The new chief will be paid between $85,000 and $110,000, according to city records.

In January, Terry Sanders, 52, was appointed interim police chief. Sanders missed making the final 10 list by one slot but might still have a shot at the job.

“If not all of those applicants are interested, we will draw from the next highest numbers to have a final 10 list,” Stankoski said. “Then we’ll have phone interviews.”

The human resources department narrowed the original list to 25 names based on criteria developed by the six-person search committee, said Rhonda White, human resources director. That number was reduced to 10 during Tuesday’s meeting of the search committee, she said.

Other than Sanders, no members of the Fairhope Police Department made the top 25 list, according to city records.

“As far as the process, it’s been difficult but we’ve gotten it down to 10, and we’ll narrow that down again to five after phone interviews (by the search committee),” said Mayor Tim Kant, who serves on the committee. “I think it’s a very diverse group with impressive educational backgrounds and extensive experience in police work and administration, as well as community policing.”

The search committee consists of Bob Callahan, Pam Caudill, Valerie Chaney, Kant, Vann Saltz and Rick Wilson, with White serving in an advisory capacity and Stankoski as the council’s liaison.

“We’re formulating the interview questions for the committee,” Stankoski said. “Once we get our questions finalized, we’ll set up phone interviews and go through the ranking process again. We will then come up with four to six candidates to recommend to the council.”

The search committee will conduct the phone interviews, asking the same questions of each candidate, Stankoski said.

He said he expects those meetings to be open to the public, as will the interviews by the council with the finalists.

“It’s my understanding that according to the sunshine laws, and now that the council has passed an ordinance giving it authority to hire and fire city department heads, that those interviews will be open to the public, just like is done with interviews for superintendents (of school systems).”

Kant said he also believed the interview process for the finalists by the council must be open to the public.

Last month, the city council in Madison, Ala., also agreed the public may attend interviews of finalists for police chief in that city near Huntsville.

The public and press will be allowed to attend those interviews by the Madison council of the candidates but will not be allowed to comment or ask questions, according to recent media reports.