The Gadsden Civil Service Board voted to discharge police officer Josh Partee after an hour-long hearing Tuesday evening, finding him guilty of conduct unbecoming an officer.

Partee was suspended without pay by the board for 61 days in August, for insubordination to other officers during a domestic call at his home.

He had been arrested on multiple charges of violating a family protection from abuse order — an order to stay away from his estranged wife who requested the order — and domestic violence menacing.

Etowah County District Judge Will Clay found Partee guilty on the menacing charge and acquitted him on the violation of protection order charges. He spent 58 days in jail without bond while awaiting trial.

Defense attorney Randy Phillips told the board Partee has appealed the menacing conviction and it should come to trial in the next circuit court docket, possibly in April.

He noted that after a district court trial, Clay wrote in an order that Partee’s wife had been “enticing” him to come violate the protection order, with the intention of having him arrested for doing so.

Phillips said she would get him to come over, then call the police when he “didn’t do what she wanted.”

If Partee did not succeed with his appeal of the domestic violence menacing charge, “this will be moot,” Phillips said, because the conviction would bar Partee from carrying a firearm. Phillips asked that all charges be dismissed, because of the other court results.

Board President Alice Pruett said the burden of proof needed to send someone to jail is different than the evidence needed to determine whether someone should be a police officer. As a police office, Pruett said, Partee should have followed the judge’s order.

“He was led by his wife,” Phillips said.

Police officers deal with criminals, Pruett countered, who also are known for trying to lead people. “An order is an order,” she said. “A judge’s order trumps what she did.”

Partee’s 61-day suspension would have bended Dec. 12. Had the case been continued, as his attorney asked, for the results of the appeal, Police Chief Lamar Jaggears said he would have to make a job for Partee to do within the department.

Board members said if the issue was not resolved Tuesday, they could continue Partee’s suspension.

Jaggears asked if he have to pay Partee during a continuation of the suspension.

“You’ve got to consider a person’s file,” Jaggears said. “If he’s someone who’s never been in trouble, we might be able to talk about that.”

Phillips said the board should look at all the commendations Partee has received for arresting robbers and other criminals.

“He can catch a robber and a burglar better than anybody I’ve got, but he gets in more trouble than anyone else, too,” Jaggears said.

The department had marked units responding repeatedly to calls at Partee’s residence, the chief said, and that is detrimental to the public’s confidence in the police.

City Attorney Lee Roberts told board members it would be an embarrassment to have an officer jailed for 58 days, then return to work.

The board met briefly in executive session to review the evidence and Partee’s personnel file before coming back into session and voting unanimously to discharge him.

Phillips said it’s not been determined whether Partee will appeal that decision to Circuit Court.