Galveston Council Rescinds Vote To Terminate Town Marshal

The town marshal in Galveston now has his job back. Last week, the council fired Shawn Durham in a split vote, saying that he had been insubordinate by not handing over keys to the police department and passwords to police computers. Yesterday, the council voted 3-0 to rescind the earlier vote, saying they did not give Durham his due process by allowing him to have a hearing in front of the council. Board president John Hart, who spearheaded the move to fire Durham, let an attorney do the talking yesterday. The attorney said this latest move was a matter of law only. The new ordinance states that the council is still accusing Durham of insubordination and that it still wants to fire him.