A Police Chief Is "Removed" from Office under POBRA Even If Still Paid

In Robinson v. City of Chowchilla, published December 23, 2011, the Fifth District Court of Appeal upheld a trial court decision granting a police chief a writ of mandate ordering his reinstatement on the ground that the chief was removed from office without giving him the notice required under the Public Safety Officers' Procedural Bill of Rights Act.  Among other arguments, the defendant argued that it had not "removed" the chief from office, within the meaning of the act, before the date his contract expired, even though it directed him to remove his belongings from office and leave the department, and then appointed an acting chief in his place.  The defendant contended that because it continued to pay the chief his compensation until the end of his term, it did not "remove" him.  The appellate court ruled that interpreting the statute that way would encourage cities to evade POBRA's procedural protections simply by continuing to pay police chiefs after putting them out of office.