CENTERVILLE, Ga. — For the third time time in five years, the City of Centerville is without a police chief.
First, Chief Sidney Andrews retired back in 2015.
Then, Chief Ronald Rodgers left in 2016 after serving just a few months.
Now in 2020, Chief Chuck Hadden has retired.
Captain Ricky Harlowe with the Houston County Sheriff's Office has been in charge since September.
This is the second time in five years the sheriff's office has stepped in to help run the department.
"The sheriff's department came over to add and bring stability to the department," says Harlowe.
The city signed a 90-day agreement with the sheriff's office, which ends next Tuesday, the 15th.
"I met with the mayor and he's going to meet with the chief deputy and the sheriff to see about extending the current contract."
Harlowe says since he took over, they've hired two new officers and promoted two others -- one to oversee the patrol division, the other to run investigations and animal control.
"It's going real good and after the restructuring of the command staff, the morale is up," he says. "We're here to just bring stability to the officers, like I said before, and we're trying to make a better environment for them."
Now, the search continues as the Georgia Association of the Chiefs of Police helps to evaluate candidates.
"I put this in front of mayor and council tonight since Centerville has a stellar record of our past chiefs over the past 18 or 19 years -- and yes, that was sarcastic," Councilman Cameron Andrews said during the December 1st council meeting.
They'll use an assessment tool to evaluate applicants.
The cost ranges from $4,500 to $7,000, depending on how many candidates are evaluated.
Mayor John Harley and members of city council all voted in favor of the agreement.
Andrews would not go on camera, but by text, said they are looking at both in-house and outside applicants.
Hadden was an internal hire back in 2017.
Andrews said they will take their time to make sure they choose the right person.
He went on to say, "Our county sheriff and his department has been extremely helpful as we have gone through this process and we are very thankful for them."
Back in 2017, 13WMAZ asked Mayor John Harley why Centerville, population around 7,700, needs its own police department.
Well, back then, Harley said having the department creates a more personal connection with people in town.
He also said the Houston County Sheriff's Office had enough to do and having them take over the Centerville Police Department for good would raise county taxes.
We asked Harley the same question this time and by text he said he has nothing to add.