Ousted Miner police chief seeks reinstatement

usted Miner, Missouri, police chief Christopher Griggs is going to court in an effort to get his job back.

Griggs’ attorney, James McClellan of Sikeston, Missouri, filed a petition for judicial review in Scott County Circuit Court on Friday.

The petition seeks to have a judge set aside recent impeachment proceedings and the termination of Griggs. It asks he be reinstated and receive pay retroactive to March 15, the date he was terminated by the city’s board of aldermen.

The four aldermen impeached Griggs at the conclusion of a three-hour hearing March 11.

Board members impeached Griggs on the grounds he failed to work 40-hour weeks and be on call at all times and that he improperly terminated a part-time dispatcher after she was rehired by the board.

But McClellan wrote in the petition “the impeachment proceedings were unlawful and illegal.” He alleged Griggs was denied his constitutional rights, including those of due process and equal protection.

McClellan had sought to postpone the impeachment hearing to allow for depositions to be taken. Bill James, the presiding board member, denied the request.

McClellan wrote the aldermen were “clearly biased against” Griggs.

According to the petition, the “impeachment and “findings of fact and conclusions of law were arbitrary, capricious, biased” and the evidence failed to support the board of aldermen’s actions against Griggs.

The board acted “in excess of its authority” in violation of the Missouri and U.S. constitutions, McClellan wrote.

Witness testimony at the impeachment hearing was based on hearsay, according to the petition,

McClellan wrote “illegal and unlawful” ordinances were passed by the board to restrict Griggs’ authority as the elected police chief and “set him up” for impeachment.

According to the petition, Griggs was on call 24 hours a day as an elected official and was not subject to a 40-hour workweek under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and Missouri wage payment law.

McClellan wrote there was “no documentary evidence from time cards” indicating Griggs’ shifts were covered by other employees resulting in the city paying overtime.

During the impeachment hearing, Miner city attorney Tabatha Thurman presented evidence and a witness — city clerk Darrin Skinner — in an effort to show Griggs did not fulfill his required duties as police chief.

The latest litigation comes amid an ongoing legal battle between Griggs, who has served as police chief since 2010, and the board.

Griggs filed a lawsuit against the board in November, alleging the board had interfered with his authority as chief.

Miner Mayor Darren Chapman resigned in January, contending the board “does not have the city’s best interest in mind.”

mbliss@semissourian.com

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