The Chief of Police in Glasgow filed suit last month against the city and two city council members. Chief Tyler Polson alleges city council member Renna Bean and former alderwoman Susan Freese pressured the Board of Aldermen to reduce his pay.

Mr. Polson was appointed Chief of Police for the City of Glasgow by the Mayor and city council in early March 2021. On July 31, 2023, the council unanimously voted to reduce his salary by nearly 10 percent. 

On August 11, Mr. Polson’s attorney filed a petition for judicial review of administrative decision, damages, and injunctive relief in Howard County Circuit Court. The document alleges that the city council reduced the Chief’s annual pay by $5,525, from $63,800 to $58,275, without giving a reason, and accuses Mrs. Bean and Mrs. Freese of pressuring Chief Polson to write citations to certain residents but not for others.

According to the document, Chief Polson was asked by Mrs. Freese to leave the city’s annual Beer & Distillery Bash in June 2021 because he was “running people off.” She proposed the BOA fire Polson at the council’s next meeting in July 2021.

Since then, the petition accuses Mrs. Freese and Alderwoman Bean of targeting some of the city’s lower-income residents. It also alleges that sometime around July 2023, Alderwoman Bean and City Treasurer Miriam Gebhardt removed Chief Polson’s personnel file from City Hall and took it to Mrs. Freese’s house for inspection. This was done without written authorization from the city’s custodian of records, the petition claims.

Chief Polson’s petition for judicial review calls the decision to reduce his pay arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable, and unsupported by competent and substantial evidence. 

“The Board’s decision to reduce Chief Polson’s pay violates Chief Polson’s right to due process under the United States Constitution, the Missouri Constitution, and the Missouri Administrative Procedure Act because the Board (a) did not provide notice of the proposed action to Chief Polson; (b) did not hear testimony or take evidence in support of the reduction in pay; (c) did not provide Chief Polson the opportunity to be represented by legal counsel or the opportunity to present witnesses and evidence in opposition to the proposed pay reduction; (d) did not provide sufficient findings of fact or conclusions of law from which Chief Polson could discern why a reduction in his pay was proposed; (e) did not cause the hearing to be recorded or transcribed; and (f) did not render its decision in writing accompanied by findings of fact and conclusions of law.”

Mr. Polson is asking the court to reverse the city council’s decision and reinstate his full salary with back pay. The petition also seeks compensatory and punitive damages against the city as well as attorneys’ fees. He is represented by attorney Amanda Marie Allen-Miller of Meridian Law in Columbia.

On September 12, Chief Polson submitted a motion for a change of venue. The matter is scheduled to be addressed at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, October 18, in front of Judge Scott Hayes in Howard County Court. 

Attorney Michael Roy Baker of Columbia represents Mrs. Freese. According to online court documents, neither Alderwoman Bean nor the City of Glasgow have secured representation.