Embattled Burden police chief Travis Lowe had his wife, Mayor Judy Colvin and a city councilman supporting his reinstatement – but, unfortunately for him, only one of the three had a vote Monday night.
After a 30-minute closed door session with the chief, the council emerged and voted 4-1 to keep Lowe on administrative leave while the court case against him proceeds. Unlike the first month of his suspension – a result of his being arrested for domestic battery by Cowley County Sheriff’s deputies Nov. 21 – the chief will no longer be paid while he’s off the job.
Lowe’s status as chief was the central topic at the council’s regular monthly meeting.
But despite a number of voices in support of his reinstatement, the four council members want to wait and see how Lowe’s case plays out legally. He faces a count of domestic battery or, in the alternative, simple battery.
Both charges are misdemeanors, and he can only be convicted of one or the other. His chances of serving jail time, legal sources said, are slim.
Lowe – through his Winfield attorney, Chris Rogers, with whom Lowe attended the meeting – declined to comment on the case or the council’s decision.
Lowe is due back in court in three weeks.
Though the chief was visibly disappointed by the council’s decision, the criminal case against him appeared to take a blow at the council meeting.
The alleged victim in the case, his wife, Lorri Lowe, who also happens to be Burden’s city clerk, said the charge against him stemmed from a domestic dispute between the couple that got out of hand. She stood from her normal position to the left of the council’s head table and offered a public exoneration of her husband.
"It was accidental," she said, in a meeting attended by about 15 onlookers, including several of the town’s police officers. "He would never intentionally hurt me."
Lorri Lowe said "it would be a travesty" if the charge against her husband kept him from retaining his position as chief. She also met, separately from her husband, with council members during part of a private session that lasted close to an hour.
Mayor Colvin agreed with Lorri Lowe’s sentiments, but Colvin, due to how city government must operate in a town the size of Burden, had no vote in the matter.
None of the locals who spoke during a public comment portion of the meeting had much critical to say about how Lowe performed as police chief. Even some who spoke against his immediate reinstatement, were complimentary of the job Lowe has done as chief.
Kim Bair, a resident who lives just outside the city, said the council should wait until the court system has its say on Lowe.
"I think the world of Travis and think the world of Lorri," she said. "But I think (the council) should hold off on reinstating him."
Others agreed but some voiced support for bringing the chief back, now. Many spoke of Lowe’s efforts to beef up the town’s police force and secure a federal grant to fund the increased staff.
There was a question as to whether Lowe could carry a gun if convicted of domestic violence. Colvin said, during a testy exchange with an audience member, that she believed he’d be fine to carry a weapon and added that two attorneys she spoke with said the council could legally reinstate Lowe immediately.
Kendle Doll was the lone council member to vote in favor of reinstatement.
Lowe will be paid an hourly wage as he finishes up some paperwork at the request of the council.
