A recommendation based on an investigation of Police Chief John Klug should be forthcoming after the holidays, Minot City Manager Harold Stewart told city council members Thursday.

“I am currently working with staff and attorneys to determine what that plan is going forward and I anticipate, hopefully, having those recommendations in place next month,” he said. Klug has been on paid administrative leave since September due to the investigation.

The council met in special session to hear virtually from the investigator, attorney Yvette Heintzelman of the Clark Hill firm in Chicago. Heintzelman detailed her background and provided highlights from the investigation report issued in November.

She said there was no evidence of hostile work environment, inconsistent discipline or retaliation but her report also listed some areas where improvements are needed.

“There have been many people that specifically met with me, particularly in the police department, who wanted to tell me that they were happy with Chief Klug, and he has gone out of his way to make accommodations and address their issues. There is no denying that there is a group of individuals that are current and or former employees that are not happy with some of the decisions that have been made, but the recommendations in this report were made to identify best practices and provide suggestions to you moving forward, to address those issues and concerns,” Heintzelman said.

Stewart said he wanted the council to get to know Heintzelman and her credentials.

“She specializes in police department investigations, and based off the feedback that I have from our attorney representation, we have a high degree of confidence in the quality of this report,” he said.

Stewart also explained how the state’s open records law impacted the investigation. He said he communicated to all staff that there would be no confidentiality if they spoke with the investigator, due to the law.

“State law has a limitation of a 75 day period in which any records relating to an ongoing investigation can be maintained as confidential – either until the investigation is completed or 75 days has expired, whichever comes first. We started that clock on August 26,” he said.

Stewart said that created a tight timeframe and contributed to the need to bring in a second interviewer to assist with the investigation. The goal was to complete the investigation within 75 days to avoid releasing documents piecemeal to the public, he said.

Heintzelman’s nonverbatim notes were included in the investigative report in keeping with an Attorney General’s opinion that attorney notes are open records, he added.

“I know there’s some feedback with regards to the lack of quality of the report. That’s because they’re notes. They’re not official report documentation that’s gone through the editing process,” he said. “We have a great deal of confidence in the quality of this report and how it was conducted.”