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Police Department
Information
The history of the Paintsville City Police is clouded in the dust of almost ancient documents which serve as the archives of this small community. Paintsville was chartered in 1834 by the Kentucky General Assembly and later became the county seat of Johnson County in 1843.
These records do not reveal the name of the first town marshal, although some of the earlier men who served in this capacity were: William Daniels (1912), George Dills (1913), Alfred Spears (1914), James Melvin (1914), Clark Walters (1921), and Frank Caudill (1924).
Paintsville formed its first police department in 1926 with W. A. Ward as it designated chief. There was no formal training required in those days to be a member of the department or to be its chief. Many policemen had served in the military in World War I. Some would later serve as Johnson County sheriff and cite their service in the Paintsville police as qualification for that elective office.
Subsequent Chiefs of Paintsville Police were W. M. Preston , Julius Daniel , Powell Williams, D. B. Trimble , Harry Adams, W.B. Bailey, Heber Ward, Bill Witten, Dallas Jackson, Ross Spears, Frank Patton, Doug Wallen , Tom Haney, Larry G. Vanhoose, Lowell Ward, and presently Bill Holbrook.