Police chief Robert Millin is leaving the Mar-Mac Police Department, effective Dec. 31.

The Mar-Mac Public Safety Commission accepted Millin’s resignation at its Sept. 9 meeting, and discussed the plan moving forward.

Millin, who joined the department in 2018, said he’s accepted a job with the state of Wisconsin. He hopes the Dec. 31 end date will “ease the burden on the district” while officer Tyler Berry is at the law enforcement academy through mid-December and officer Cyrus Johnson takes off two weeks in November.

Beginning Sept. 21, Millin said he will be in Madison for four days a week for six weeks, and will be unavailable during those times.

“With that, I presented to you guys a modified schedule and recommend the appointment of a temporary supervisor,” he told the commission.

To maintain administrative duties, Millin proposes to still work Fridays, as well as weekends as needed. He’ll also be available evenings for council or commission meetings. At the end of October, Millin will perform administrative duties when not working for the state of Wisconsin.

“Between now and the end of the year, there’s going to be very little interruptions or changes,” he said. “Right now, I have the schedule covered between now and mid-October. I still have school safety meetings between now and then, and we have a budget coming up. Everything I do normally is still going to go on.”

During this transition period, Millin recommended temporarily assigning J.T. Cunningham as shift supervisor/sergeant for the department—a move the commission unanimously approved.

Cunningham previously worked for Mar-Mac for two to three years, then served on the Postville Police Department before his current position as an officer in Elkader.

“He’s familiar with the organization, familiar with the process and our report-writing software,” Millin said. “For those six weeks when I’m not available, if any of the other staff members have a question, or when it comes to policy and procedure or legal questions, they have a supervisor to report to.”

Cunningham, who also attended last week’s commission meeting, said he believes the arrangement will work fine with his schedule in Elkader.

He ran it by Elkader Police Chief Mitch Seitz, “and he’s fine with it as long as it’s not every day running up here,” he explained.

Cunningham won’t be able to leave Elkader while on duty, but will be available by phone.

In the meantime, the commission will begin advertising for the police chief position. They will also develop a memorandum of understanding with Millin regarding the employment transition.

“I don’t know if we’re going to come up with a memorandum of understanding we can vote on tonight,” said commission chair Robyn Denning. “I want to make sure everybody here is good with it and you’re good with it,” he told Millin.