“They were notified (Monday) that they need to hire a chief. If they don’t, the officers would be guilty of a misdemeanor,” said Larry Birney, executive director of the Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training.

CLEET Assistant Director Steve Emmons said a field representative was sent to the town to inform Mayor Jewell Horne of Title 11 in the Oklahoma Municipal Code, which deals with chiefs of police.

The town has been without a chief since their July meeting when town trustees voted to terminate Police Chief Tim Brown.

The firing came after Brown turned over an investigation to Muskogee County District Attorney Larry Moore on July 9 that accused two former Webbers Falls police officers of wrongdoing in connection with a driver’s license checkpoint.

Brown said in his report that the officers allegedly demanded a woman to pay them cash for an outstanding traffic warrant outside of Webbers Falls’ jurisdiction.

Moore issued a news release on July 10 clearing the officers of any wrongdoing. Moore received documentation that showed that a $220 cash bond was collected from the woman who was ticketed for Webbers Falls offenses of driving with a suspended license and having no insurance.

He also had the bank slip to show that the money was deposited.

Brown said in his report that he contacted the two former officers’ supervisors

Moore said that he would conduct an investigation of Brown’s allegations and why he provided an investigative report to the Tulsa World.

Muskogee County Sheriff Charles Pearson said he believes Brown made a mistake but that it was nothing malicious.

However, he said he would not be allowing his deputies to take cash bonds for traffic violations on the highway while he is in charge.

“We will not do that,” he said.

Pearson said they are negotiating with the town to completely take over the police department. The parties will have to agree on how much Webbers Falls will pay the sheriff for police service, he said.

Meanwhile, State Auditor and Inspector spokeswoman Terri Watkins said that an investigatory audit of the town, as requested by Moore, began last week.

Moore requested the audit in June after DA’s investigator Richard Slader conducted an investigation revealing that more than $300,000 had been misappropriated.

Horne confirmed the audit was under way but would not comment.