Sturgeon police chief now on paid administrative leave

The attorney for Sturgeon Police Chief Greg Halderman says his client has been reinstated with back pay and put on paid administrative leave by the city.

“So we agreed that, according to Judge (Jeff) Harris’ order, Greg would be reinstated immediately and given back pay,” attorney Andrew Hirth said. “The back-pay will be held in abeyance until his appeal is done.”

This comes after Halderman filed a motion to hold the city in contempt of court.

In February, Harris ordered the city to reinstate Halderman with back pay after improperly firing him in May 2017 on allegations of alcohol abuse and inappropriate behavior. However, hours before he was supposed to report back to work, Halderman got a letter from Sturgeon’s mayor saying that he had been placed on unpaid administrative leave.

On March 11, Harris told attorneys for the city of Sturgeon and Halderman to come to an agreement outside the courtroom about Halderman’s reinstatement while the case goes through a jury trial and any appeals. Halderman was reinstated and put on paid leave the same day pending another removal hearing by the city.

“The ball is really in their court in both areas. They need to file their notice of appeal and they need to file a notice of intent to remove (Halderman), so really until they do both of those things there’s not much for us to do. Greg is just waiting,” Hirth said.

A date for the removal hearing has not been set. A jury trial is scheduled for Dec. 16.