Carbondale City Manager Jeff Doherty said there are three remaining candidates for the position of a permanent Carbondale Police chief, and he plans to choose one within the next few days.

Doherty refused to comment or release the names of the three final candidates, but did say he hopes to have the position filled by the end of the week.

In addition, he also refused to comment Monday if Carbondale Police Interim Chief Steve Odum is one of the remaining candidates.

However, in mid-June, Doherty said that after screening down the initial 45 applicants, Odum was still a candidate.

According to Doherty, the interview process began last week and included four panels made up of 24 individuals to interview the remaining candidates.

There were two panels of community groups, each comprised of seven individuals, that conducted two separate interviews on Thursday. Two more panels, made of five individuals, conducted interviews on Friday.

Doherty said the panels included community groups, organizations, police officers and the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners.

He said the process of searching for a permanant police chief began in October when former police chief R. T. Finney left the Carbondale to head Champaign’s police department.

Odum was named interim police chief and began his duties on Nov. 14, while continuing his position of Deputy Chief of Operations. Odum is currently filling two positions, but is only getting paid for one.

According to Doherty, Odum is currently “getting a salary that is at the level of a chief,” which leaves the salary of the deputy chief of operations unfilled.

The fiscal year 2005 budget, which began May 1, cited the salary of the police chief as $75, 816, nearly $5,000 less than the 2004 budget.

In addition, the salary listed for deputy chief, which includes both deputy of chief of administration and deputy chief of operations, as $134,992. If this amount were split equally between the two chiefs, each would receive a salary of $67,496.

According to Doherty, the postponement of finding a permenant replacement was caused by the city’s budget and accreditation processes, but allowed the city to save money in the meantime.

Doherty said the salary of deputy chief of operations was “put into savings” and that “any opportunity you have to save money and not have those expenditures allows you flexibility to do other things later on.”

He also said if Odum were chosen as the permanant police chief, he would have to determine if the position of deputy chief of operations is needed. However, if Odum is not named police chief, Doherty said he would return to his former position.

“We’re in a mode right now where we look seriously at every single position and whether or not to fill that position,” he said, “and we’re doing that because of budgetary reasons.”

Odum, who has worked with the department since 1977, said he filled out an application last year and hopes he is hired as the permanent police chief.