The City of Jefferson will meet in Special Session at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Visitor’s Center, 305 E. Austin Street, to select a new Chief of Police from existing officers.
The Chief position was vacated in a special meeting in June by the resignation of Jason Carroll. Carroll was made acting Chief since December 2019 and made permanent in March.
Officer Tino Perez, the senior officer on the force, was put in charge of the department by Mayor Pro Tem Victor Perot the day after Carroll’s resignation.
In the regular July Council meeting last week, Council voted to hire from within the department instead of seeking outside applications, or from using the applications received last year. They held off hiring in that meeting due to wording of the agenda on the matter.
Council will also adopt a Resolution to apply for the CARES Act Fund available to the City. Under the Act, which is in the form of a grant, the City will have up to $112,000 available to use for COVID related expenses, including safety measures. The City receives 20% of the funds up front, and the rest is on a reimbursement basis. In June, Council approved using $80,000 of the grant to upgrade computers and software in the Police Department to allow for more remote reporting of incidents and public interaction.
There will also be a Budget Workshop following the meeting.
The Herald will be live for this meeting.