SILVERHILL, Alabama — The Town of Silverhill should have a new police chief by the end of June, first of July, officials said following a special work session May 23 at town hall.

The final two candidates, Marcus Green and Phillip Robinette, met with Mayor Tim Wilson and council members Bert Jones, Wayne Gruenloh and Shirley Stephens during the Monday work session.

Wilson, Gruenloh and Stephens also met with candidate Kevin Neal Brock on May 17. Jones was not present at that meeting. Council members Jared Lyles and Mike Allegri were unable to attend either meeting.

Interviewed separately, the interviews May 23 were similar to the interview with Brock on May 17 with the candidates fielding questions from Wilson and the council members for about 45 minutes each.

As with Brock, the candidates answered a wide range of questions ranging from their backgrounds and law enforcement experience to how they would deal with difficult situations and people in the public.

A native of Mobile, Green said he has family in the Daphne and Fairhope areas and would like to gain employment in the area so he could be closer to them.

A graduate of the Police Academy in Montgomery following his service in the military, Green said, he has served in a wide range of capacities in the Montgomery Police Department. He has also served as a deputy with the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department and currently serves as administrator of that county’s jail facility.

“My biggest motivation is my family,” he said. “I want to be here and I want to raise my family here.”

Robinette, a native of east Tennessee, has served in a wide-range of police and sheriff’s departments as an officer, assistant chief and chief in Tennessee, Arkansas and Alaska. He currently serves as assistant chief in Mt. Carmel, Tennessee, near his hometown, where he also helps run the family farm.

“I live by two rules, ‘always do your best,’ and ‘always do the right thing.’ That’s what you’re going to get from me,” he said. When asked why the town should hire him, Robinette said, “because I am the most qualified person applying for this job.”

Brock, a resident of Silverhill and a 1984 graduate of Robertsdale High School, is a 1990 graduate of the Southwest Alabama Police Academy and has served with the Foley and Loxley police departments. He currently serves as a full-time temporary criminal justice instructor for Faulkner State Community College and is an independent insurance agent, but is not currently active in that position.

Following the meeting, Wilson said he would discuss the three candidates with the entire council to decide who out of the three candidates would be the best fit for the job.

He would then follow up with phone interviews discussing the specifics of the town’s needs and specific ordinances the town has in place regarding the police department.

“We should make a decision by the end of June or first of July,” he said. The town would, however, keep its contract in place with the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Department through the end of July.

Following the May 17 meeting, Wilson said pay for the new chief’s position is negotiable and that the town would need to consider increasing the pay in order to hire a qualified candidate.

According to the revised pay scale adopted during the town council’s May 2 meeting, beginning pay for a police chief in Silverhill is $25,812.80 per year or $12.41 per hour, up to $45,988.80 or $22.11 for step 7, which can be reached in 11 years from the original hire date. The town can choose to hire an employee at a higher level based on experience.

• Editor’s note: Phillip Robinette was identified in an article that ran in the May 25 edition of Gulf Coast Media as Phillip Robinson. We regret the error and any confusion it may have caused.