kcentv.com - KCEN HD - Waco, Temple, and KilleenHallsville Police Dept. stuck in limbo, fired officers fight back

HALLSVILLE (KYTX) -- It's another twist in the controversy at the Hallsville Police Department. After the Hallsville city council reinstated the fired officers Tuesday night, the four new officers lost their jobs, and now they're fighting back.

CBS 19's Abby Broyles spoke with their attorney today and has the latest on the police department stuck in limbo.

Lukas Reynolds held the Hallsville Police Department's top job less than three weeks. The city council reinstated the officers fired in December with a majority vote Tuesday night.

Later that night, Mayor Jeri Medrano terminated Reynolds as chief along with the three other new officers. That's according to their attorney Jose Sanchez, who's helping them fight back.

"All we're asking is that we have a fair opportunity to analyze what happened and the way the lives of my clients have been affected," Sanchez said.

Robert Perkins, Shane Guthrie and Lukas Reynolds all left their jobs with other agencies to come work for the Hallsville police department.

Paul Montoya had been fired from the Longview police force.

They all say the mayor told them to turn in their city property Tuesday night. They did - and now their lives and jobs are in limbo.

"Yesterday, mayor Medrano notified the media that my clients were still employees of the city of Hallsville. If they were not terminated my clients stand tall are ready to serve the city of Hallsville," Sanchez said.

They haven't reported to work since before Tuesday's council meeting, and the reinstated officers are still not back on the job either. An administrative worker is the only one there.

In the meantime, the police department is still open for business, but today there are no Hallsville police officers patrolling the city streets. That's left completely to the Harrison County Sheriff's Department, and today Sheriff Tom McCool tells CBS 19 that'll be the case until this issue gets resolved.

"Our main thought is to make sure that these officers can continue with their lives as police officers whether it's for Hallsville or for anybody else," Sanchez said.

And for now, any potential future these men could have in Hallsville remains in the hands of the mayor and the city council.

The fired officers have not taken legal action yet. They want to try to negotiate a deal with the city first.

The city council meets again Tuesday.

They mayor has not returned CBS 19's calls for comment.