Wister town board confirms Morsund’s resignation following DUI crash

Wister’s town board passed a motion to confirm former Wister Police Chief Kurt Morsund’s resignation on Monday during its meeting.

Morsund was arrested for aggravated driving under the influence on April 28 after crashing into a tree and phoned in his resignation from the LeFlore County jail. He was also charged with child endangerment by DUI.

The board moved to appoint Andrew Thompson as the interim police chief and advertise the position, accepting applications through May 20, after which it will conduct background checks and interviews.

The board accepted the resignation of Interim Town Clerk Melisa Woolery, who stepped down due to health reasons.

Also, the board approved requesting that the town attorney doing three hours of research into the annexation process and feasibility of annexing property. The board acknowledged that it would need to extend city services to those places and open a public comment period before approving annexation. Board members floated annexation ideas related to places each to the east, south and west.

For the 2024-25 budget, the board moved to hire Precision Tax and Bookkeeping to prepare a draft, paying the business in an amount not to exceed $1,500.

William Self was hired as a part-time police officer.

Hillari Rogers was approved to create a Town of Wister Facebook page.

The board approved $4,000 to contribute to the purchase of a police truck and will see how much more is needed for it after the purchase. Also, the board approved $1,500 for an office printer.