FAIRHOPE, Ala. — Although a new legal opinion backs up the police chief’s decision to end police escorts of funeral processions, that new policy will not roll past the mayor’s desk — at least during this fiscal year.

“The chief and I met and came to an understanding that all public safety-related activities, such as funeral procession escorts, would continue through the current budget cycle,” Mayor Tim Kant said Tuesday morning, referring to the fiscal year ending Sept. 30.

Kant said no changes will be made in the city policy providing free police escorts for funeral processions unless the City Council decides not to fund it.

He also said the appropriate time to discuss making any changes in that policy would be during budget hearings, which will occur prior to Sept. 30.

“I forwarded your message to Chief (Bill) Press, and his response was that you should contact Mayor Kant,” said police spokesman Sgt. Craig Sawyer Tuesday morning, regarding whether police escorts would end May 1 as announced by Press earlier this month.

After last week’s council meeting, in which Kant questioned the process by which Press issued his announcement that funeral escorts would stop, Kant said such escorts should continue. At that meeting, Kant stated he had not been consulted by Press prior to his announcement.

At the April 12 council meeting, Gary Wolfe, owner of Wolfe-Bayview Funeral Home, also questioned who was “running the city,” asking whether it was the mayor and council, or the police chief, who would make the ultimate decision about the funeral procession escorts.

After the meeting, Council President Lonnie Mixon sought a legal opinion from City attorney Marion “Tut” Wynne regarding the city’s duties in providing police escorts for funeral processions, according to city records.

“There is no state or federal law that requires municipal police to escort funeral processions,” Wynne stated in his memorandum to Mixon, who also sought information about the national trend regarding funeral escorts.

“There is no authority for the proposition that a funeral home has a duty to provide a police escort for a funeral procession,” Wynne stated. “Also, there is no authority for imposing such a duty on a law enforcement agency. However, if the police take on the responsibility of providing escort to a funeral procession, they must perform the duty in a non-negligent manner to avoid liability.”

On April 9, Press announced in an open letter to “citizens of Fairhope,” which was published in some local newspapers, that his department would no longer provide funeral procession escorts.

“Effective May 1, 2010, it is my intent to cease all on-duty funeral procession escorts,” Press stated in the letter. “Because we do not have motorcycles that facilitate safer movement for our officers and citizens alike, we will not be participating in escorting funeral processions in an off-duty capacity as well. … In cases where military and public safety personnel, heads of state, family members, city employees, and dignitaries are concerned, we will continue to participate as a display of our individual and collective respect and gratitude, but not in an escort role.”

In that letter, Press also stated that escorting funeral services conflicted with his department’s ability to fulfill its public safety function, in some cases.

“In fact, as recently as March 28, a local funeral home wanted this department to provide on-duty personnel to assist with traffic for three hours,” Press wrote. “We advised them that we could not provide this service due to the lack of manpower and other daily demands, and suggested instead that they utilize an off-duty officer to facilitate this; they declined.”

At the April 12 council meeting, Press said that providing police escort services would be stopped as of May 1 due to insufficient staff, funds and vehicles, as well as for potential liability reasons.

“The trend in the USA is that the number of cities providing police escort to funeral processions is decreasing,” Wynne stated in his memo, citing a March 22 article in USA Today newspaper. “Liability and staffing problems have caused many police departments in larger metropolitan area to stop providing the escorts.”

Wynne stated that some smaller municipalities are following that trend, while others continue to offer the service for free, or charge a fee for the service.

“In conclusion, a city may still provide the service for free,” he stated. “This is allowed because it is a means of traffic control for public safety purposes. The national trend is to stop the service or charge for the service. Staffing and liability issues are propelling this trend.”