Ouachita Parish personnel committee approves promotions, hires and Personnel Manual changes

During a recessed Personnel Committee meeting on Feb. 7 the Ouachita Parish Police Jury approved a series of personnel actions and revisions to the Personnel Manual.

Chief Patrick Hemphill presented personnel recommendations that the committee approved without opposition, including the termination of two sick‑leave statuses (Denise McKinney and Brandon Martin), retirements of two district fire chiefs (Mervyn D. Matlock and David Harris), and multiple promotions within the fire department and juvenile detention. The committee approved conditional offers to hire 16 firefighter recruits contingent on passing remaining tests; the minutes list the recruits by name. The committee also approved individual hires and promotions at Green Oaks and juvenile detention, accepted a resignation (Nicholas Hendrix), and approved hiring an animal control officer and an equipment operator for Public Works.

Human Resources presented multiple revisions to the Personnel Manual that were adopted without opposition. Changes included removing a redundant subsection in Section 2.1, updating Section 3.5 to remove a back‑x‑ray medical exam requirement (previously decided by the jury), changing the annual performance‑evaluation requirement in Section 4.2 to allow discretion by department heads, moving a subsection under Section 4.3, clarifying retiree spouse coverage under Section 5.5 (allowing continuation of health insurance until age 65) and adding Vision Insurance under Payroll Deductions. The manual also removed language requiring written reprimands to be expunged after one year and removed references to a Personnel Committee in Section 8.3, allowing grievances to be appealed directly to the Police Jury.

All committee motions reported in the minutes passed without opposition. Next steps include processing conditional hires subject to testing and implementing the approved manual revisions through Human Resources.