City announces King’s resignation
The City of Wills Point joined a crowded club in Van Zandt County by announcing the resignation of Chief of Police Kirk King effective Sept. 4.
Edgewood and Canton found themselves in a similar position recently with Canton announcing this week that the city had promoted Lt. Brad Allison from within to serve as its next police chief.
In a press release announcing the resignation, city explained, “Kirk King tendered his resignation as chief of police with the city of Wills Point.”
In his statement to City Manager Pam Pearson, King stated, ‘As much as I have wanted to continue the restructuring of the Wills Point Police Department, I have other matters that also deserve my undivided attention.’ Kirk King started with the city as chief in December of last year. He replaced Scott Johnson who retired after many years of service. Sergeant Rob Powell will be instrumental in running day to day operations until the interim chief is announced.”
Mayor Mark Turner said, “The city will miss Kirk. We truly appreciate his focus on law enforcement with regard to his years as a U.S. Marshal as well as his time with us as chief. It is now time to begin our search for a new chief and we should be well into that process within a month. In the short term, the city will hire an interim chief. The interim chief will be someone who will not be applying for the full time position. This keeps the process level for all applicants.”
Prior to King’s arrival, Scott Johnson held the chief of police position for seven years before announcing his retirement Aug. 15.
The city conducted a search that lasted several months at that time with John Turner holding the title of interim chief.
On Oct. 14, 2014, the Wills Point City Council announced the hiring of King with a start date of Dec. 1. King, a University of Texas at San Antonio grad, started working with the department following a lengthy stint working for the U.S. Marshals Service.
Word on a desired timetable to fill either the interim or full time position was not given. The matter could become a topic of discussion during the next Wills Point City Council meeting, scheduled for the second Tuesday in September.
