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CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) A sponsoring committee of three Valley City residents took the first step to circulate a petition to have the chief of police position be an elected one.

The preliminary paper work was submitted to the Valley City Auditor’s office on Tuesday, January 17th.

One of the sponsoring committee members is Brian Mindt. He and other Valley City residents believe it’s a good idea.

It may take several days before the document is approved before the sponsoring committee is allowed to seek the necessary signatures needed to place an initiated measure on a future ballot for Valley City voters.

The three members of the sponsoring committee are Brian Mindt, Larry Hetland and Anthony Drake.

In other news, the Valley City Commission unanimously approved a motion to have Phil Hatcher become the permanent Chief of Police at their regular meeting January 17th following the retirement of Fred Thompson in December of 2016.