(A) The office of Town Marshall is hereby abolished as of January 1, 1980.
(B) There is hereby created and established in the city a Board of Metropolitan Police Commissioners consisting of three members, who shall be appointed by the City Council. The Commissioners shall be of good moral character, legal residents of the city, and not more than two of them shall be of the same political party.
(C) The three Commissioners shall be appointed in January, 1980, with their terms to commence on January 1, 1980; one to serve for one year, one to serve for two years, and one to serve for three years. Thereafter, on January 1 of each year, one Commissioner shall be appointed to serve for a term of three years. Each of such Commissioners shall be subject to removal by the City Council for any cause which the Council may deem sufficient.
(D) Each Commissioner appointed under the terms hereof shall, before entering upon his or her respective duties, take and subscribe an oath of office before the Clerk of the Circuit Court of the county, and shall also take and subscribe before such Clerk the further oath or affirmation that, in any and every appointment or removal to be made by them, to or from the police force created and to be organized by them under the applicable provisions of law, they shall in no case and under no pretext appoint or remove any police officer, or other person because of any political affiliation of such person, or for any cause or reason other than that of fitness or unfitness of such person, which oath and affirmation shall be recorded and placed among the records of said court. Said Commissioners shall each give bond in the penal sum of $5,000, payable to the state, conditioned upon the faithful and honest discharge of his or her duties, which bond shall be approved by the City Council, and the premium therefrom shall be paid out of the General Fund of the city.
(E) The Commissioners shall have and exercise all powers, duties, and responsibilities granted to them by the applicable laws of the state or by the ordinances of the city.
(F) All existing ordinances of the city, or any parts thereof, are hereby repealed insofar as they may be inconsistent with or superseded by the provisions of this section.
(G) The salary of the Board of Metropolitan Police Commissioners shall be an amount set by ordinance of the City Council, payable monthly out of the city treasury.
(H) The effective date of this section shall be January 1, 1980.
(Ord. 8-12-4-79, passed 12-4-1979)