The City of Hopkinsville is considering whether to reimburse retired police officers for their time testifying in court. At last night’s Committee of the Whole meeting, Human Resources Officer Kenny Grabara and Police Chief Guy Howie recommended continuing the policy of not paying subpoenaed former officers.
The issue first came to attention in July when a retired Hopkinsville police officer had been called to testify in a case he had been involved in, and later asked for reimbursement for his time.
Grabara said that even though some City Council members thought it might be a nice gesture, the idea of paying witnesses to testify might look bad for the court.
“Our city attorney had concerns that of the legal and ethical issues that might be involved with that and we reviewed not just for police officers, but looking at the city of Hopkinsville as a whole for those that might be subpoenaed to court," said Grabara.
Grabara said his research found that Paducah and Louisville are the only Kentucky cities to pay retired officers for their time in court. Paducah pays former officers $25 a day and Louisville up to $60 a day depending on the officer’s rank
The committee voted to carry the discussion to the next meeting September 3rd.
