City of Madras rejects second round of police chief finalists; third search planned

MADRAS, Ore. - For the third time this year, the city of Madras will reopen its recruitment process for a new police chief, having decided not to hire any of the three second-round finalists that were interviewed in August.

The city has been without a permanent police chief for over a year, since former chief Timothy Plummer was fired in July of 2025.

Four finalists were interviewed in January, but the chosen candidate declined the city's offer. That prompted another search that led to a new round of three finalists who visited the city August 24-25 for a public meet-and-greet and interviews.

The city posted this update Friday afternoon on its Facebook page:

"We know community members have been waiting for an update on the Police Chief recruitment following the August 24 public meet and greet and finalist interviews the next day.

The City will not be making a hire from this recruitment. We are working with GMP, our recruitment firm, to reopen the position and begin a new recruitment process as soon as possible.

Thank you to everyone who participated and shared feedback during the process.

Interim Chief (Angela) Elder will continue serving while we work to hire a permanent Chief. We appreciate her continued leadership and commitment to the department and our community.

We’ll share more information when the recruitment reopens."