IRVINGTON — Irvington Police Chief Michael Chase hasn't worked a single day in the past nine months, but a series of legal fits and starts has allowed the town's suspended top cop to take home roughly $115,000 so far this year, leading to a state investigation, officials said.

Chase was suspended in December 2012 after an investigation by the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office accused him of quashing a probe into alleged misconduct by his police officer nephew and charged him with failing to properly supervise his department’s Internal Affairs Unit. Accused of more than 130 violations of Attorney General’s Office guidelines and police department rules, Chase was suspended — with pay — indefinitely.

Under state guidelines, a disciplinary hearing should have begun 30 to 45 days after the charges were filed.

But Chase’s attorney, Joseph Donahue, has filed repeated requests to delay the hearing while he reviews thousands of pages of documents tied to the case, according to Irivington Police Director Joseph Santiago and Mayor Wayne Smith.

The delays have angered township leaders, who note Chase has collected most of his $154,272 annual salary while suspended.

"What they’ve done is given him a legal no-show job," said Councilman David Lyons.

Santiago said the hearing began last week. However, the situation is now the subject of an investigation by the state Civil Service Commission, according to a spokesman for the agency. Under state guidelines, an employee cannot be suspended for more than six months unless criminal charges are pending.

However, Santiago said he can’t allow Chase to return to work because of the serious nature of the allegations against him, but he can’t withhold Chase’s pay because he is not facing criminal charges.

"His salary is in the budget anyway. It isn’t new money," Santiago said. "Obviously we don’t put money in the budget to pay people not to work."

Records show Chase earns $12,856 per month, meaning he has earned nearly $112,500 while suspended.

Santiago said depending on the outome of the hearing, Chase could be ordered to return the money to the township.

Calls to Chase and his attorney were not returned.

Lyons said the entire situation is a fiscal drain on an already cash-strapped town.

"The police department is costing us a hell of a lot of money. The townspeople are being robbed because the whole police issue is going to cost us money because the chief is not working, and he’s not working because of them," Lyons said, referring to Santiago and Smith.

Santiago said the suspension does not violate state guidelines, but declined to elaborate.

Chase’s troubles began in August 2012, when the prosecutor’s office placed a monitor over Irvington’s Internal Affairs Unit and seized hundreds of documents from the department.

A report on the prosecutor’s probe obtained by The Star-Ledger in January revealed the investigators found that Chase ordered Internal Affairs detectives to kill the investigation into his nephew and that Internal Affairs failed to properly investigate more than 100 citizen complaints against officers.

The report also suggested Chase used the Internal Affairs Unit to unfairly punish officers he had disagreements with.

Santiago has said the charges could cost Chase his job.

RELATED COVERAGE

• Irvington detectives say allegations against police chief led to transfer

• Report reveals new details on Irvington police chief's suspension

• Irvington police chief suspended after being accused of misconduct

• Irvington police chief accused of misconduct through Internal Affairs Unit

FOLLOW THE STAR-LEDGER: TWITTER | FACEBOOK | GOOGLE+