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Anderson updates police merit commission rules to broaden eligible appointees
Summary
Ordinance 11-26 passed to modernize the city's police merit commission rules: it removes obsolete occupation-based appointment requirements, simplifies the definition of the city, and allows retired (but not active) law-enforcement members to serve on the commission. The ordinance passed final reading and awaits the mayor's signature.
The Anderson City Council adopted Ordinance 11-26 to amend long-standing local rules governing the police merit commission, removing outdated occupational quotas for appointees and permitting retired, but not active, law-enforcement members to serve.
Tim Landon presented the ordinance and said it updates language from an ordinance originally adopted in 1982. The measure replaces an occupation-tied definition of the city with a plain-language definition of “the city of Anderson, Madison County, Indiana,” removes requirements that commission members come from specified professions (for example, lawyer, doctor, teacher or theologian) and allows retired law-enforcement personnel to serve on the commission.
Christopher Burton, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Anderson Lodge 48, told the council he supports the change and that it will make it easier to identify qualified, community-minded candidates while preserving accountability. Pete Bittar, representing the merit commission, explained the current appointment makeup and said that without the change several current members could have been disqualified under the old occupational rules.
Councilors voted to advance the ordinance through its readings, then voted to suspend the rules and take a final reading the same night. The final recorded action in the transcript indicates the ordinance "has passed this council and awaits the signature of the mayor." The ordinance amends local ordinances cited in the text, including the city’s previous ordinance 72-82 and related sections of chapter 35.225 of the code of ordinances.
What happens next: the ordinance awaits the mayor's signature; the change will alter future appointment eligibility for the police merit commission and likely keep some current members eligible who otherwise could have been removed under the older, occupation-based formulation.
