Council approves ordinance restoring police chief to full‑time status after court reinstatement

The Newton Falls Council voted 4–0 to adopt Ordinance 2024 D41, amending the administrative code to make the police chief position full‑time and applying the change retroactively to July 30, 2023. The ordinance is intended to restore the pay and benefits associated with the full‑time position following a court‑ordered reinstatement of the chief.

Council members discussed a proposed amendment to add an emergency clause to the ordinance so the chief would immediately receive full pay and benefits. A council member who proposed the emergency amendment argued it would provide the chief the entitlements attached to the full‑time post. Other members raised legal concerns about using an emergency procedure to change the administrative code, noting that administrative‑code amendments traditionally follow the normal legislative process.

A representative from the law department advised that, from the law department's perspective, compensation and benefits would be reinstated retroactively once the administrative code is corrected through the regular legislative process. After that clarification, the council member who had offered the emergency amendment withdrew the amendment and the council proceeded to a vote on the ordinance as presented.

The ordinance passed unanimously. No immediate change to pay processing was recorded on the meeting record; the law department's explanation indicated adjustments would be applied retroactively after the administrative‑code amendment is finalized.

The council did not take further amendments at the meeting; the ordinance's passage completes the local legislative step to align the administrative code with the court‑ordered reinstatement.

Next steps: the ordinance is enacted as adopted by the council; implementation details for payroll and benefits were described as retroactive adjustments to be applied following formal codification.