Terry Franklin was elected Tuesday night as Sallisaw’s new police chief, after he previously tied his opponent in February’s election.
Franklin beat out the other candidate, Sandy Girdner, 1,050 votes to 971 (52 percent to 48 percent), according to Sequoyah County election results.
The race collected more votes the second time around than it did during the first election. When the two candidates faced off two months ago, Franklin and Girdner tied each other with 837 votes each. The election board chairwoman initially said bylaws showed the winner should be picked out of a hat, but the election board later scheduled another special election for April 1 to settle the tie.
The police chief position opened up in November after former chief Shaloa Edwards resigned amid an embezzlement scandal. (Read more on that case here)