The police force of a small town in Georgia was reinstated on Friday, following a controversial decision by the mayor to dismiss all officers earlier in the week. This sparked significant backlash and led to prompt intervention by the town council.
In a specially convened meeting, the Cohutta Town Council voted in favor of immediately reinstating the officers and ensuring they receive back pay. This was confirmed by the town’s vice mayor in a statement to The Associated Press.
Additionally, the council enacted a temporary measure preventing the mayor from firing the officers for the next 30 days. However, they postponed addressing other agenda items, including a motion to remove Mayor Ron Shinnick from office.
The decision follows Mayor Shinnick’s abrupt closure of the Cohutta Police Department on Wednesday, which resulted in the termination of all 10 employees and left the town of roughly 1,000 residents without local law enforcement.
Interestingly, the firing occurred merely a week after it was reported that issues between the officers and the mayor had been resolved through open dialogue and mediation.
In response to the absence of a local police force, the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office stated that its deputies would provide assistance to the town, which lies just south of the Tennessee border and approximately 100 miles northwest of Atlanta.
A sign posted on the department’s door earlier this week read, “The PD has been dissolved, and all personnel have been terminated.”
While the exact reasons for the firings have not been publicly disclosed, the shutdown appears tied to a dispute last month after officers filed formal complaints against former town clerk Pam Shinnick, the mayor’s wife.
Mayor Ron Shinnick speaks at Cohutta Town Hall in Cohutta, Georgia, on Thursday, April 30, 2026. (Matt Hamilton/Chattanooga Times Free Press via AP)
Pam Shinnick was fired from her position for allegedly creating a “hostile work environment.” Officers alleged in their complaints that she continued working and had access to residents’ personal information despite her termination.
Following the complaints, Shinnick, Police Chief Greg Fowler and town attorney Bryan Rayburn said during a press conference that the situation had been resolved through “open dialogue and good-faith mediation.”
But just one week later, the entire department was dissolved.
Mayor Ron Shinnick, left, shakes hands with members of the Cohutta Police Department at Cohutta Town Hall in Cohutta, Georgia, on Thursday, April 30, 2026. (Matt Hamilton/Chattanooga Times Free Press via AP)
“This all comes to personal vendetta from the mayor, and I wholeheartedly believe that,” former Sgt. Jeremy May told WRCB-TV. “We took a stand for transparency, and in result, every one of them has lost their jobs.”
According to Vice Mayor Shane Kornberg, the town’s attorney told the council the firings did not follow the town charter, which requires 30 days’ notice before employees can be removed or suspended.
Kornberg said the council went into executive session to discuss potential litigation and emerged without the mayor, who did not return to the meeting. The council then voted to reinstate the police force.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the mayor’s office for comment.
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