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Georgia town reinstates police officers and department after mayor fires all officers
The council said the firings violated the town charter and restored the officers with back pay after a standing-room-only meeting.
- On Friday, the Cohutta Town Council passed an ordinance reinstating the police department and restoring the jobs of the chief and about 10 officers two days after Mayor Ron Shinnick fired them all, with officers receiving back pay immediately.
- Days after town attorney Brian Rayburn assured officers their jobs were safe, Mayor Shinnick shut down the police department as of Wednesday morning, citing social media comments as justification while Sergeant Jeremy May alleged the firings were retaliation for a complaint against former town clerk Pam Shinnick.
- Town attorney Bryan Rayburn advised the council that the firings violated the town charter, which requires 30 days' notice before suspending or removing employees, and a sign posted earlier this week in the town of about 930 people announced the department's dissolution, directing residents to a nonemergency county number.
- The council passed measures preventing the mayor from firing officers for the next 30 days, and Mayor Shinnick voluntarily did not return after the council emerged from executive session; Vice Mayor Shane Kornberg took over and led the reinstatement vote.
- Sergeant Jeremy May told WRCB-TV the firings resulted from officers taking a stand for transparency regarding the mayor's wife's access to classified information, affecting about 10 workers as Whitfield County Sheriff's Office assumes local operations and the council postpones further business indefinitely.
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