Maud City Council Votes To Keep Police Chief

The town of Maud, Oklahoma had been without its police force since Monday after a heated discussion between the mayor and the police chief led to her submit her resignation. But Wednesday night at a special city council meeting, both sides came to an agreement.

The room was packed with supporters of Maud Police Chief Patricia Bateman. And almost immediately, the city council went into executive session.

Bateman submitted her resignation because she said Mayor Larry Ham asked her to do something she felt was unethical.

“Basically, I was asking her about what they call a fix-it ticket,” he explained. “And she said it was illegal and I said, ‘Well, I want it done anyway.’ Nobody could show me a law that says I can’t do it.”

“To my knowledge in Oklahoma,” Bateman said, "no highway patrol or otherwise has done it or has not done it in years at least. If there’s something to that, I don’t know. I’m willing to find out.”

But she said many other things transpired during the conversation, leading her to the decision.

“What I choose to do and what I do in loving my badge,” she said, "is what I do for a living and I’ve done it for years and I’m not going to put myself, my name, my family’s name into something that’s not what we feel is correct or is the right way to handle things."

Bateman met with the city council during the special meeting. And they all returned to open session, vowing to try and resolve the issues. The city council voted not to accept Bateman’s resignation.

Despite opposition at the meeting, Mayor Ham said he had not considered resigning.

“I still think there are things that we can do,” he told News 9, "both her and I, to improve this town."

“For the community to come together the way they did tonight was amazing and spectacular,” Bateman said. “And if we can work through the issue and do what’s best for the community, then I’m going to be here.”

The chief, assistant chief, and 14 reserve officers would return to work starting Wednesday night.