West Buechel goes quiet over police chief's unexplained firing

WEST BUECHEL, Ky. (WDRB) -- There were no signs of trouble back in January when Todd Walls spoke to a newly elected West Buechel City Council. They voted 4-2 to keep him on the job as police chief.

But three week later, new Mayor Brenda Moore sent him a one-sentence termination letter, saying, "Thank you for your service to the City of West Buechel however; your services are no longer needed."

Download PDF

Moore also wrote to all council members, including John Campbell, telling them not to talk to the press or anyone else about Walls' firing, per legal advice. Campbell, who was one of the two votes against Walls back in January, declined to directly comment on the firing Friday.

"I know there were some problems around, and I don't think the city ought to really be involved with it," Campbell said.

Walls came into West Buchel under fire. He resigned from LMPD after a misdemeanor sexual misconduct conviction in 1996 and was let go by Taylorsville Police in 2015. And this most-recent firing is a place of Deja vu for West Buechel. Walls replaced Gary Sharp, who was ousted as police chief in 2017 under this same cone of silence. However, some clues on Walls' termination show up in his personnel file.

A West Buechel job application says he retired from the police department on Oct. 31, 2017. He applied to get his old job back a few weeks after he left. If there was a prior agreement between Walls and the city to hold his position, it violates the state's Bona Fide Separation clause for public employees.

Kentucky Retirement Systems, the agency overseeing state pensions, is investigating Walls' retirement.

"A prearranged agreement does not have to be in writing. An oral agreement or a mutual understanding is a prearranged agreement." the agency's website says about re-employment. "If you return to work and are found to have a prearranged agreement to return to work, your retirement will be voided and you will have to repay all retirement benefits you received, the health insurance premiums paid on your behalf, and any dependent child payments."

West Buechel is already under investigation for complaints of corruption, fraud and missing taxpayer money in prior administrations. Looking back, Moore may have known this was coming regardless of that 4-2 vote.

"I'll work with whoever they give me," Moore said after the January council meeting. "If we don't get done what we think we should, then we'll have to work on changing it. I'm moving forward."

Walls declined to comment for this story.