Campaign begins to re-hire Barry Conaway as Walnut Cove police chief

(By Meghann Evans, The Stokes News) - A campaign has begun to re-hire former Walnut Cove police chief Barry Conaway, who was terminated from the position in 2008.

The Walnut Cove police chief position was vacated a few months ago by James Hill. Conaway would not return calls last week to confirm that he had applied for the police chief job. But local attorney Jerry Rutledge said Friday that he had sent a letter to Town Manager Byron Ellis petitioning for Conaway to be re-hired.

The town of Walnut Cove began advertising earlier this month to hire a new police chief to replace Hill, who resigned abruptly on Feb. 14, stating simply that it was time for him to “move forward and seek other options.” At the time, he declined to go on the record to give any further comments about his decision to resign. Ellis said at the time that, to his knowledge, the resignation did not stem from any improprieties. Next in command Lieut. Chad Williams began serving as acting chief following Hill’s resignation.