FAIRHOPE, Alabama-Fairhope police officer Tervelle Lee has appealed a hearing officer's firing recommendation to the Personnel Board, which will hear his case on Feb. 2.

The hearing officer's written decision was issued last Tuesday following a Jan. 9 closed-door hearing and upheld Police Chief Bill Press' recommendation that Lee be terminated, according to Lee's attorney.

Lee is one of six police employees facing termination, according to Press in a Jan. 5 letter to local media. Press recommended firing three of those employees on June 29, July 29 and Sept. 30 last year, with Mayor Tim Kant taking "concurrent action on Oct. 10, or 104, 73 and 11 days later, respectively, and their hearings have been rescheduled again for Jan. 9," Press wrote. "In the case of the two additional officers that were placed on administrative leave on Oct. 6, no action has thus far taken place."

No other hearings occurred Jan. 9, according to staff, although that of corrections officer Ronald "Tony" Avera was abruptly cancelled that morning by city staff, citing procedural irregularities. 

Personnel Board hearings, unlike those before the police department's hearing officer, are governed by Alabama's Open Meetings Act, which means the board must first vote in an open session whether to meet behind closed doors and state its reasons for doing so, according to Dennis Bailey, an attorney for the Alabama Press Association. 

The reasons given for the recommended firings have not been disclosed by the city, citing personnel confidentiality rules, according to staff.