Associated Press Published

Huntington City Council Fine With Handling of Ex-Police Chief Payout

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Huntington officials have decided Mayor Steve Williams was not at fault in ordering a payout to the city’s former police chief.

The Herald-Dispatch reports the Huntington City Council Finance Committee voted Monday behind closed doors that a $34,000 payout to Huntington Police Chief Skip Holbrook for accrued sick leave did not require further investigation.

The council’s former chairman Scott Caserta had said Williams’ payout to Holbrook was illegal and a malfeasance of office.

Caserta had been stripped of his chairmanship because council members said he released documents related to the payout to the Cabell County Prosecutor’s Office rather than follow the city council’s investigative process.

Williams says Holbrook had earned the payment, which he received after resigning in March 2014 to become the police chief in Columbia, South Carolina.