Marion’s city council held an emergency meeting Tuesday, Nov. 4, to steady the police department after a wave of resignations and to begin a formal search for a new chief.
A Marion Police officer stopped the Times-Standard-Herald’s editor from entering City Hall the night of the meeting, citing a fire marshall’s guidance on the occupancy of the building.
City Clerk Laura Hinton told the council that Chief Kendrick Howell, the assistant chief, a lieutenant and one officer resigned after the prior night’s organizational meeting. She said the department had nine officers before the departures and now has five. Four are APOST-certified and one is scheduled to graduate in early December.
Reading from a resolution that cited a “significant loss of operational oversight and supervisory capacity,” Laura Hinton recommended short-term steps: assign day- and night-shift supervisors from remaining certified officers, place officers on 12-hour rotations so no one works alone, coordinate with the sheriff’s office and neighboring agencies as needed, and begin recruitment “including for chief of police.”
Mayor Dexter Hinton asked for a motion to declare the chief’s position vacant and to advertise the job. Councilmember Stanley Kennie first moved to post the job for six weeks. City Attorney Ainka Jackson cautioned that would push interviews into the new year. Mayor Dexter Hinton and City Clerk Laura Hinton said two weeks is the city’s standard. Stanley Kennie withdrew his motion.
On a motion by Stanley Kennie, seconded by Councilmember Leon Kennie, the council voted unanimously to advertise the chief’s job for two weeks, with the option to extend.
Mayor Dexter Hinton said he has authority to name an interim chief “until it’s filled” and stated his recommendation for Robert Sykes. The council then entered executive session following a unanimous roll call vote.
In 2022, Sykes resigned from Marion PD after an off-duty fender-bender in Birmingham in a Marion police cruiser.
After returning, Laura Hinton said seven to eight candidates had already submitted their names for a temporary appointment and that background checks would be done “so that the city doesn’t come under any liability.” The mayor withdrew his recommendation of Sykes. No interim chief was appointed Tuesday night.
Laura Hinton said the city would name one the following day, or perhaps as late as Friday, but no such announcement has been forthcoming.
Separately, news posts last week noted that the City of Eutaw voted at its Monday, Nov. 3 organizational meeting to appoint Kendrick Howell as its police chief, the same night as Marion city council’s organizational meeting.
Perry County Commission Chairman Albert Turner, in a Nov. 6 Facebook statement, linked Howell’s prospects in Marion to controversy following an encounter with Perry County Commissioner Tony Long and said he had withheld support for making Howell permanent. Turner also said he intends to work with Sheriff Roy Fikes on additional county patrols inside Marion while the department is without a chief.
The council’s vote Tuesday authorizes a two-week posting for Marion’s chief of police and directs staff to maintain full coverage while operating with reduced numbers. As of press time Wednesday, Nov. 13, the city had not posted any interim appointment or provided the job posting for publication.
