Marion seeks permanent chief
Staff writer
Marion, which after months of turnover has finally filled four of its five authorized police positions, is advertising for a new chief and a new patrol officer.
The city was left with only two full-time officers last year after Aaron Slater transferred to the sheriff’s department and Clinton Jeffrey and Steven Janzen resigned.
Duane McCarty became interim chief, and Zach Hudlin remained as the lone patrol officer until June of last year, when Mayor David Mayfield appointed Gideon Cody as chief.
McCarty, who had been a candidate for Cody’s position, transferred soon afterward to the Hillsboro police department.
Two provisional officers were hired by Cody, but neither was able to complete training and left the department.
Hudlin, the city’s only certified officer at the time, became interim chief after Cody resigned last October in the wake of reports he had urged destruction of evidence after disavowed police raids he led.
Soon afterward, Slater transferred back from the sheriff’s department, and part-time Hillsboro officer Dustin Woodford transferred to the Marion department full-time.
Woodford spent most of his first months on the job completing police training.
Former deputy and Hillsboro officer Peyton Heidebrecht briefly worked for the department in November, December, and January.
The most recent addition is Kaylan Miles, transferring from the sheriff’s department this month.
No job description has been posted for the patrol officer position.
The description for the chief position requires that the successful candidate have three or more years of supervisory law enforcement experience.
However, it also states that the chief “is expected to have acquired the necessary information and skills to perform the job reasonably well within one year of employment.”
No deadline for applications is specified, nor is any salary.
Before leaving, Cody persuaded city council members to increase entry-level police wages 47.1% to between $20 and $25.09 an hour and assistant chief wages 63.6% to between $26 and $29.34 an hour.
Although Cody was hired at $60,000 a year, the equivalent of $28.85 an hour, his presentation did not specify a salary for the chief, instead listing the chief as “priceless.”
Entry-level wages for Hillsboro police tend to be about $1 an hour less.
However, Marion participates in a far more generous pension program, contributing to a special fund an amount equivalent to 22.99% of wages instead of the standard 8.43% paid by Hillsboro.
Although Marion regards full staffing as five full-time officers, the FBI defines full staffing as 2.2 officers per 1,000 residents.
Marion’s latest population, according to the Census Bureau, is 1,840, which under FBI standards would call for four instead of five full-time officers.
In proposing sizeable raises last year, Cody told the council estimated spending on police personnel in 2024 would be $274,634.
The city’s budget, approved earlier this month by the council, listed estimated 2024 spending on police personnel at $332,474, up 23.3% from 2023.
The budget for 2025 calls for an additional 11.7% increase to $371,358 — nearly $100,000 more than what Cody had estimated in proposing his raises.
Next year’s overall budget for police, including spending on items other than personnel, will be $496,008.