6 applicants still in the running to become next police chief in Texarkana, Ark.

TEXARKANA, Ark. (KSLA) - The list of applicants who still are in the running to become the next police chief in Texarkana, Ark. has been released.

On Monday, Sept. 26, KSLA obtained the list of names from city officials. KSLA was told by city leaders there were initially 39 applicants for the job; a search panel narrowed that list to six. The final candidates are:

• Rick Cockrell, of Texarkana, Ark.
• Thomas Garrity, of Stafford, Va.
• Scott Heagney, of Rockwall, Texas
• Bobby Jordan, of Texarkana, Texas
• Michael Kramm, of League City, Texas
• Paul Lilly, of Brownwood, Texas

Jordan is serving as interim chief. He was appointed to this role by City Manager Jay Ellington back on Aug. 19. Sgt. Rick Cockrell is also already a member of the Texarkana Arkansas Police Department.

Ellington said the high interest in the position reflects positively on the city.

“I think the application pool speaks highly of Texarkana, Arkansas, that we have a good police department, that we got some good leadership in place there as well, and our community is well received around the country because we did get applicants from around the country,” Ellington said.

The city manager said he hopes to make a final decision sometime in October.

This all comes after the previous chief, Kristi Bennett, resigned in June.

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