17-107 Mayor; qualifications; election; officers; appointment; removal; police officers; appointment; removal, demotion, or suspension; procedure.
17-107. Mayor; qualifications;election; officers; appointment; removal; police officers; appointment; removal, demotion, or suspension;procedure.(1) A mayor of a city of the secondclass shall be elected in the manner provided in the Election Act. The mayorshall be a resident and registered voter of the city. If the president ofthe council assumes the office of mayor for the unexpired term, there shallbe a vacancy on the council which vacancy shall be filled as provided in section 32-568. The mayor, with the consent of the council, may appoint such officersas shall be required by ordinance or otherwise required by law. Such officersmay be removed from office by the mayor. The mayor, by and with the consentof the council, shall appoint such a number of regular police officers asmay be necessary. All police officers appointed by the mayor and council may be removed, demoted, or suspended atany time by the mayor as providedin subsection (2) of this section. A police officer, includingthe chief of police, may appeal tothe city council such removal,demotion, orsuspension with or without pay. After a hearing, the city council may uphold,reverse, or modify the action.(2) The city council shall by ordinance adopt rules and regulationsgoverning the removal, demotion,or suspension with or without pay of any police officer, includingthe chief of police. The ordinanceshall include a procedure for such removal, demotion, or suspension with orwithout pay of any police officer, including the chief of police, upon thewritten accusation of the police chief, the mayor, or any citizen or taxpayer.The city council shall establish by ordinance procedures for acting upon suchwritten accusation, including: (a) Provisions for giving notice and a copyof the written accusation to the police officer; (b) the police officer'sright to have an attorney or representative retained by the police officerpresent with him or her at all hearings or proceedings regarding the writtenaccusation; (c) the right of the police officer or his or her attorney orrepresentative retained by the police officer to be heard and present evidence;and (d) the right of the police officer as well as the individual imposingthe action or their respective attorneys or representatives to record allhearings or proceedings regarding the written accusation. Theordinance shall also includea procedure for making application for an appeal, specifications on the periodof time within which such application shall be made, and provisions on themanner in which the appeals hearing shall be conducted. Both the police officerand the individual imposing the action or their respective attorneys or representatives shallhave the right at the hearing to be heard and to present evidence to the citycouncil for its consideration. Not later than thirty days following the adjournmentof the meeting at which the hearing was held, the city council shall voteto uphold, reverse, or modify the action. The failure of the city council to actwithin thirty days or the failure of a majority of the elected council membersto vote to reverse or modify the action shall be construed as a vote to upholdthe action.The decision of the city council shall be based upon its determination that,under the facts and evidence presented at the hearing, the action wasnecessary for the proper management and the effective operation of the policedepartment in the performance of its duties under the statutes of the Stateof Nebraska. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the preemptorysuspension or immediate removal from duty of an officer by the appropriateauthority, pending the hearing authorized by this section, in cases of grossmisconduct, neglect of duty, or disobedience of orders.(3) This sectiondoes not apply to a police officer during his or her probationary period. SourceLaws 1879, § 6, p. 194; Laws 1881, c. 23, § 1, p. 168; R.S.1913, § 4999; Laws 1921, c. 155, § 1, p. 637; C.S.1922, § 4168; Laws 1923, c. 67, § 3, p. 203; Laws 1925, c. 36, § 1, p. 143; C.S.1929, § 17-107; R.S.1943, § 17-107; Laws 1955, c. 38, § 1, p. 151; Laws 1969, c. 257, § 7, p. 935; Laws 1972, LB 1032, § 104; Laws 1973, LB 559, § 2; Laws 1974, LB 1025, § 1; Laws 1976, LB 441, § 1; Laws 1976, LB 782, § 13; Laws 1994, LB 76, § 491; Laws 1995, LB 346, § 1; Laws 2009, LB158, § 1. Cross ReferencesElection Act, see section 32-101. AnnotationsMayor with consent of council appoints the city attorney and the council fixes his fees within statutory limits. Darnell v. City of Broken Bow, 139 Neb. 844, 299 N.W. 274 (1941).Power to employ counsel, implied as it is herein, is not wholly taken away by statutory provisions and, when regular salaried attorney is ill, absent, or disqualified and the defense of city is necessary, a special council may be employed and paid. Meeske v. Baumann, 122 Neb. 786, 241 N.W. 550 (1932), 83 A.L.R. 131 (1932).Office of chief of police and office of overseer of streets are separate, although both may be held by the same person. Mead v. State ex rel. Sperling, 73 Neb. 754, 103 N.W. 433 (1905).