The police chief in Athens, Tennessee, was dismissed Friday amid an ongoing city council special session investigating his complaints about the city manager and whether the manager was retaliating against him.
Athens officials announced Cliff Couch’s firing in a news release on Monday. Police Lt. Fred Schultz has been appointed interim police chief, according to the release.
“Couch was provided an opportunity to resign, but as of 9 a.m. Monday, Oct. 11, 2021, he did not exercise that opportunity,” city Manager C. Seth Sumner said in the release.
Sumner gave no other reason in the release for Couch’s termination.
Couch, a native of Florida and a previous chief in both Great Bend and Goodland, Kansas, was hired in Athens in September 2017 after a nationwide search.