The state agency that regulates law enforcement training has ended its investigation into whether Eagleville Police Chief Everett Stone meets the level of required qualifications for police officers.

Stone, 63, has been on administrative leave without pay while the investigation has been going on.

Brian Grisham, executive secretary of the Tennessee Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) Commission, said Monday that Stone does not meet the requirements to be a full-time officer and that he is lacking the necessary documentation to work part-time.

A full-time officer must be certified which requires 400 hours of training at a POST approved school.

The options Grisham outlined to the city are that Stone would have to attend the basic police school if he is to work full-time and that he must have on file sufficient paperwork to show that he meets certain pre-employment requirements to work part-time.

These pre-employment requirements include physical and psychological evaluations, proof of education and background investigation. The documentation is required for full-time officers also.

Grisham said that if the city intends to re-employ Stone, even if only on a part-time basis, that his agency would notify the city that it needs to see the paperwork before the city uses him part-time.

"I would clearly suggest documenting his recent in-service training and annually thereafter," Grisham said.

City officials could have faced penalties had the investigation shown that they had knowingly employed someone who does not meet all the criteria for police officers.

Grisham said, however, that there would be no penalties.

"Mainly because (Stone) never received the supplemental pay," he said. "That is always of concern if someone got the supplemental pay and was really not qualified to get it but there is nothing like that here."

The supplemental pay comes from the state and is a stipend to officers to encourage departments to keep their certifications up.

"At this point there is not going to be any more action other than watching what they do," Grisham said.

Stone, who is the city’s only police officer, submitted his resignation as police chief Feb. 14. In his resignation letter, he offered to stay on at the Eagleville Police Department as a part-time officer with a maximum of 20 work hours a week, which is the maximum number of hours that POST allows part-time officers.

But city councilman took no action on the resignation, pending the outcome of the investigation.

Stone could not be reached for comment Monday on whether he wants to stay on the Eagleville Police Department.

Mayor Nolan Barham said he had no comments to make until he could have a conversation with Stone. He said Stone was out of town and he might not be able to get with him until next week.

Councilmen contacted by the Eagleville Times on Monday afternoon had not heard of the POST commission’s decision. They said they could not comment until they learned more about what POST had to say.

Stone joined the Eagleville Police Department in June 1988. He was made police chief in about 1995. Before his employment in Eagleville, Stone was a patrol deputy for 10 years at the Henderson County, Kentucky, sheriff’s department and held the rank of sergeant for the last two years of that service.

When Stone worked in Kentucky, that state did not require a deputy to be certified or have special training.

Stone has worked part-time during his career in Eagleville because he had another job, but it is unclear how many hours he has worked since he became Eagleville’s only police officer in about 2003. During his tenure in Eagleville, he has not become certified.