City of Newton Police Chief Harvey Curry was fired by the Newton Board of Aldermen during an executive session Jan. 21, which saw District Attorney Steven Kilgore present a report to the mayor and aldermen about the performance of the Newton Police Department.
Also during the executive session, the board appointed Randy Patrick to replace Curry as police chief effective as soon as he can work out a notice with his current job as a deputy sheriff in Scott County.
Kilgore said Monday that his office is beginning the process of looking at each of the law enforcement agencies within the Eighth Circuit Court, which covers Leake, Newton, Scott and Neshoba counties. While he didn’t expect Newton’s report to come out first, Kilgore said he began taking a closer look at the department once he found out that there were only two certified officers working at one point last year.
“This is something we have been looking at over the last few months,” Kilgore said. “Obviously, we have had some turnover within the district, so we haven’t been able to look at some of the agencies that have new leadership. That left us with the agencies like Newton that has had the same leadership for the last few years.
“Because Newton had only two certified officers, that was a concern for us. That number was way too low for a municipality the size of Newton. That needed to be addressed. So that expedited our report on Newton.”
Kilgore said his office examined the number of arrests and determined the percentages of those that had been closed vs. those where there had been convictions. Of the ones that were closed, Kilgore’s staff also looked at why those were closed and categorized them.
The week before the Jan. 21 meeting, Kilgore said he met with Mayor Murray Weems and city attorney Brian Mayo and presented his report on the Newton Police Department. Weems and Mayo asked Kilgore to attend their next meeting and present the findings to the aldermen.
Once his report was delivered, Kilgore left the meeting and does not know what the aldermen discussed after his presentation.
“I was shocked like most everyone that they decided to act so quickly,” Kilgore said. “I do not know why they acted so quickly.”
Mayo wouldn’t give a reason for the termination after being asked by The Newton County Appeal.
“I cannot comment on personnel decisions,” Mayo said. “All I can say is that Harvey Curry is no longer the police chief at this time.”
After Kilgore left the executive session, Newton County Chief Deputy Kris Hollingsworth arrived a few minutes later at City Hall and entered the executive session.
Mayo asked Curry to come into the executive session. After meeting with the board, Curry and Hollingsworth exited the executive session and left City Hall quietly.
After reopening the meeting, Mayor Murray Weems announced to the audience, which included other department supervisors, that Curry was no longer the police chief.
Weems also announced that Randy Patrick was hired as the new police chief.
The Mayor also said assistant chief Johnny Martin will serve as acting chief until Patrick can start.
Weems, however, did not immediately give a reason for the dismissal.
“I cannot comment further on this at time,” Weems said.
Weems said that Patrick had not formally been offered the job as police chief prior to the executive session.
“We have talked in the past, and he has mentioned that he would be interested in the position if it ever came open,” Weems said. “That’s about as much as we have talked about it.”
