Chief search ramps up

Three people, apparently including a Kansas City, Missouri, police captain, have applied to be Marion’s next police chief, sources say.

Interim chief Duane McCarty and part-time officer Chris Mercer have confirmed to the Record that they applied.

Several community members have received messages from a “Marion Crime” Facebook page that a Kansas City captain with “extensive training in active shooter and other highly stressful situations.” The Record reached out to the captain, who said he was retiring and asked a reporter to call him Friday.

“Marion should be proud that we have attracted someone with his credentials,” the message from the secretive administrator of the page reads. “The Marion Police Department needs ‘new blood’ similar to what the sheriff’s department received last year.’ ”

McCarty stepped in as interim chief after Clinton Jeffrey resigned late last year along with assistant chief Steve Janzen and city clerk Tiffany Jeffrey, Clinton Jeffrey’s wife.

The rash of resignations began after city council members met behind closed doors Dec. 13 with Brian Bina, the city’s attorney, but not with former city administrator Mark Skiles.

The council later fired Skiles, whom council members accused of showing a city employee a photo of a scantily clad Marion business owner and of using the “N” word.

The city has advertised for a police chief, assistant police chief, and full-time police officer for months. An additional vacancy occurred when canine handler Aaron Slater returned to the sheriff’s department.

Hiring a city clerk was Mayor David Mayfield’s first priority. The city hired Janet Robinson in February for that job.

The council on Monday voted unanimously to hire Brogan Jones, a Lyons city employee, as city administrator. He will start May 1.

Sources have said that Mayfield, a former Kansas Highway Patrol trooper and former Marion chief as well as former city administrator, is pushing to interview candidates before May 1.