Iola city councilmen will continue to hear an appeal of dismissed police officer Lisa Fox.
Fox met privately with the council for about five minutes Tuesday before a split council voted to continue her appeal process.
Following the private session, Fox told council members of her wishes to have an attorney speak on her behalf during the appeal.
Such a practice is forbidden, City Attorney Chuck Apt replied, noting that Fox could be advised of what to say but no attorney or other representative could speak for her.
The vote for the continuance was split 4-4, with council members Ken Rowe, Kendall Callahan, Beverly Franklin and Steve French in favor, and Don Becker, Joel Wicoff, Jim Kilby and Scott Stewart opposed. The deadlock sent the matter to Mayor Bill Shirley, who voted in favor of the continuance.
No further meeting dates for Fox’s appeal have been set.
Councilmen terminated Fox’s contract at their Feb. 27 meeting.
Because of employee privacy rules, the reason behind the dismissal has not been made public.
