{"id":107509,"date":"2015-12-24T04:09:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-24T11:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/mancos-vows-next-marshal-will-face-strict-background-check\/"},"modified":"2015-12-24T04:09:00","modified_gmt":"2015-12-24T11:09:00","slug":"mancos-vows-next-marshal-will-face-strict-background-check","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/mancos-vows-next-marshal-will-face-strict-background-check\/","title":{"rendered":"Mancos vows next marshal will face strict background check"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Cox\"
Cox<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

With a Jan. 22 application deadline approaching, Mancos officials have vowed its next town marshal will be subjected to a thorough background check.<\/p>\n

Former Marshal John Cox, who resigned last month after a DUI arrest, was never fully vetted when hired as a deputy marshal in 2012. He was promoted to marshal the following year.<\/p>\n

Tapped as town administrator after Cox\u2019s initial employment date, Andrea Phillips said it was eye-opening to learn that the town\u2019s top lawman was hired without a criminal background check. An Internet search revealed that Cox received a 2009 DUI conviction while a police officer in Indiana.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was surprised that there was no background done on (Cox),\u201d said Cortez Police Chief Roy Lane.<\/p>\n

Lane and Montezuma County Sheriff Steve Nowlin said they have both offered detectives from their respective agencies to assist with the hiring of the next town marshal in Mancos. With an annual salary range between $58,000 and $64,000, the deadline to apply for the position is Jan. 22.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to have the position filled by March,\u201d Phillips said, adding candidates would be exposed to a full background check and an oral board interview.<\/p>\n

In addition to a new marshal, Mancos is advertising to hire another deputy marshal position as well. The salary range for the deputy marshal position is $43,000 to $48,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have revamped the law enforcement job application to be much more in-depth,\u201d Phillips said. \u201cIt includes a signed release form to allow the town to do a full investigation of their background.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will definitely conduct a thorough investigation,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Phillips commitment to evaluate future law enforcement candidates falls in line with new recommendations from the Colorado Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) board. Last week, the board introduced three new reforms, including a requirement that law enforcement agencies conduct comprehensive background checks on potential officers. Before the mandate, the decision to examine a candidate\u2019s criminal 6B was left to agency discretion.<\/p>\n

Taking office as county sheriff a year ago, Nowlin said he supported the POST mandate, stating he welcomed any effort aimed to strengthen law enforcement.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur criminal background check is more extensive than ever before,\u201d Nowlin said.<\/p>\n

In a joint interview with The Journal, Lane was also supportive of the board\u2019s new rule, stating his agency had long practiced the protocol.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been doing this for several years now,\u201d Lane said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt benefits all of us,\u201d Nowlin interrupted.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want the next Mancos marshal to be top-notch, because when the headline reads \u2018police,\u2019 then we\u2019re all scrutinized,\u201d Lane said.<\/p>\n

In addition to uniform background checks, POST board officials have also amended rules that require more frequent psychological and physical evaluations of officers when transferring to new law enforcement agencies as well as closing a loophole that allows officers to work despite having a felony deferred judgment on their record.<\/p>\n

Charged in November with DUI after hitting a guardrail on U.S. 160, Cox\u2019s initial appearance on the misdemeanor traffic offense before a La Plata County judge is set for Wednesday, Jan. 6.<\/p>\n

In addition to the La Plata County DUI charge, Cox also faces six misdemeanor charges in Montezuma County from separate incidents that occurred in August and September. A Colorado Bureau of Investigations probe alleges that Cox conducted an improper investigation on a romantic rival and fabricated a speeding ticket. The date for Cox\u2019s initial appearance before a Montezuma County judge remains unknown.<\/p>\n

On Nov. 4, Mancos officials placed Cox on paid administrative leave. He resigned as marshal on Nov. 16.<\/p>\n

tbaker@the-journal.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

to find replacement for top lawman by March<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":107510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[83],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-107509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-mancos"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107509"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=107509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}