FAIRHOPE, Ala. — Editor’s note: This article is part of a continuing series on “Sunshine in Government” about open meetings and public records laws in Fairhope.

The city’s refusal last Friday to disclose documents about a police captain’s recent disciplinary case has left the public in the dark regarding an officer some local officials and residents sought to have appointed chief last month.

Capt. Steve Griffis, who faced nine charges of misconduct, retired one week before a disciplinary hearing that could have ended his 25-year career with the Fairhope Police Department, city officials said.

The Fairhope Courier’s request for records about the disciplinary action against Griffis was denied July 10 in a written statement by City Clerk Lisa Hanks. The statement was issued after consultation with City Attorney Marion “Tut” Wynne and Paul Myrick, a private attorney who advises the city on personnel and employment matters, Hanks said.

Fairhope’s police personnel rules, as required by Alabama law, state that the “Chief of Police shall provide written notice of the proposed discipline to the Department Review Officer and to the Human Resources Director. The notice shall state the nature of the proposed discipline and the reasons for the discipline.”

The personnel rules also require the HR director to “promptly issue written notice to the officer stating the nature of the proposed discipline and the reasons therefor.”

The Courier requested a copy of those documents that put Griffis on notice regarding the proposed discipline and the reasons for it.

“Documents related to proposed discipline against any employee are not subject to disclosure,” the city’s July 10 response stated. “Without reference to any particular employee, generally, if there were any proposed disciplinary action against any employee of the city of Fairhope, and the employee either resigned or retired before the process was complete on the proposed discipline, the proposed action would become moot and the process would not proceed.”

An attorney with the Alabama Press Association takes a different view regarding whether the records should be disclosed.

“I believe the city’s position is wrong because it is contrary to the Alabama Attorney General opinions and an Alabama Supreme Court decision relating to disciplinary records,” said Dennis Bailey, a Montgomery attorney and legal counsel for the APA. “Both the Attorney General and Alabama Supreme Court state that such records are public records but can be withheld while an appeal of disciplinary action is pending. When the action is over, they are to made available to the public.”

On May 23, Griffis, then a second-in-command at the department, received notice of pending discipline and was suspended with pay that day. He sought and received an extension past the normal 10-day period for a pre-disciplinary hearing, which was set for July 2.

The City Council changed the procedure earlier this year for the appointment of the department review officer who hears and renders an opinion in police disciplinary cases, moving that appointment power from the mayor to the city’s general superintendent.

After Griffis received notice of the charges against him and was placed on paid administrative leave by then-interim Police Chief Terry Sanders, Mayor Tim Kant ordered Griffis returned to patrol duty but separated from officers who initiated the proceedings and possible witnesses in the case.

Before the internal investigation and pending disciplinary action became public knowledge, several dozen people attended a May 18 special council meeting about the scheduling of interviews with finalists for the police chief job that had been vacant since Sanders was appointed in January.

Griffis had applied for the job but did not make the list of contenders from which the finalists were selected.

More than a dozen Griffis supporters, including his wife and stepchildren, carried signs and petitions at that meeting seeking to have him appointed chief. Kant signed a petition that day, as did Councilman Mike Ford, who had opposed the council’s decision not to reappoint former-chief Mike Comalander and conduct a national search for the position.

The job interviews were conducted June 20; Bill Press was appointed chief by the council on June 22, with Ford casting the lone dissenting council vote; and the new chief started work on July 1, one day before the scheduled disciplinary hearing against Griffis.

On June 26, Griffis filed an application for retirement effective Aug. 1, which included a request for a lump sum payment for unused sick leave instead of retirement service credit.

State retirement rules require that an employee give notice of retirement one month before the effective date of retirement begins.

From June 26 through July 31, Griffis remains a city employee taking paid vacation, city officials said.

He was hired by the city in March 1984 and his current annual salary is approximately $73,000, according to city records. He receives 20 paid vacation days a year, and “annual paid vacation may not be carried over from one year until the next year without written approval of the mayor,” according to personnel rules.

The Courier has requested the number of paid vacation days Griffis had available to him as of June 26, and whether Kant had approved any carry over of vacation days from last year.

The city has not yet responded to that request.