A former councilman is now serving on Coupeville’s Civil Service Commission.

The Town Council appointed Frank Tippets Tuesday night to the three-member board. He served on the council for approximately 10 years before resigning in 2003 and moving to California. He eventually returned to Coupeville.

Tippets’ appointment to the civil service commission allows the town to move forward with hiring a new deputy marshal.

Mayor Nancy Conard said the commission has to certify the list of potential candidates Town Marshal Dave Penrod can interview.

Unfortunately, the commission couldn’t make a certification because it only had one member — Rick Wittison. Two other members, Jan Ford and Herb Strasler, recently passed away.

The town needs to hire a new deputy marshal because Penrod was promoted to town marshal after Lenny Marlborough resigned last year.

The town tried to find Penrod’s replacement earlier by attempting to hire an experienced officer from another department. Unfortunately, all of the finalists took positions with other departments.

The town began advertising for an entry level position and received six candidates from Public Safety Testing, the firm hired to conduct written and physical tests for potential candidates.

The list will be cut to three finalists to interviewed.

Even after being hired, it will be months before the new deputy marshal will hit the streets. The new marshal would have to attend the Police Academy first and there is not an opening until August, Conard said.