Town marshal seeks part-time academy-certified deputy, cites resignation

The town marshal (Town Marshal (S6)) told the Sunman Town Council that a paid officer, Zach Pyle, has resigned from the police department and urged the board to pursue an academy-certified part-time deputy marshal position to improve field coverage and avoid legal gray areas tied to the current special-officer role.

The recommendation came during the marshal’s report, when he described maintenance needs for town vehicles and said, “Zach Pyle honorably resigned, from the police department for the paid position.” He added that he would like to shift to an academy officer on a part-time schedule and has discussed lowering hours to about 20 per week to raise the rate of pay and attract better-qualified candidates.

Clerk (Clerk (S1)) and Council member (Council member (S3)) responded with procedural and budget comments. Clerk said training and pay changes will need to be placed on a future agenda, and Council member (S3) noted there is nothing stopping the town from hiring an academy-certified officer immediately if a willing candidate is available. The marshal said he and town staff have retirees who might be interested and that he will draft any needed job-description changes for council review.

Why it matters: the council must balance coverage, training, and legal authority for enforcement roles. The marshal argued an academy-trained officer would be less likely to run into the statutory or ordinance limits that sometimes affect special positions and could provide clearer enforcement authority on town streets.

Next steps: the marshal asked the council to consider the job-description wording and to place a recruitment or ordinance-change item on the next meeting agenda. Clerk said she will circulate a draft job description for the council to review.