Brownwood Police Chief Mike Corley officially announced his plans to retire at Tuesday’s meeting of the council.

Corley stated that he had planned to work 5-7 more years when he came to Brownwood and now it has been six years.  He plans to retire in June.

Corley explained that it was not in his plan to have a goat and sheep farm and that he was looking forward to spending more time at his farm and with his wife.  It was not in his plans to get into radio either, but he started his first radio show, “70s Saturday Night,” this past weekend.

“I picked June because I wanted to have 40 years as a police officer and it will be my birthday in June, and I’ll have that 40 years as a police officer, that means a lot to me,” said Corley.  “I wanted to announce it now to give Emily (Crawford) plenty of time to make the transition, to make it smooth.  It’s been an honor and a privilege to serve.”

With four months notice, this gives city officials time to fill the vacancy that will be left in the department with Corley’s retirement.

“I’ll be doing everything I can to help make the selection process and the transition go smoothly,” said Corley.

Mayor Stephen Haynes stated that these six years had passed quickly.

“It went by quickly.  Thank you for the job that you have done, I know we will have an opportunity to give you proper thank you and send off,” said Haynes.  “I appreciate everything you have done.”

Corley was the first ever hired Chief of Police in Brownwood.  He came to Brownwood from Richardson, Texas where he began in 1980 as a patrol officer. He had served numerous positions there before being promoted to assistant chief in 2002.