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NEDERLAND — Nederland Police Chief Gary Porter is retiring as police chief after nearly 50 years of service in law enforcement. The City of Nederland has appointed Fire Chief Terry Morton as interim police chief during the May 19 city council meeting.

Porter was hired to the NPD in 1979 straight out of high school. He was inspired by former Police Chief Billy Neal who visited Nederland High School during a career day event. Porter was initially hired working in Central Dispatch before moving on to patrol work with Port Neches PD in 1981.   

Porter was eventually rehired to NPD, where he worked his way up from patrol sergeant all the way up to the top. 

Porter served as assistant police chief before beginning his tenure as police chief in 2018 after replacing retiring Police Chief Darrel Bush. 

Morton is not seeking to become police chief and will only serve in this role until a new police chief is appointed. Morton will begin his interim position June 1 and will receive a temporary 25% pay increase during his time as police chief and fire chief.

Mayor Jeff Darby hopes to find a new police chief in the next 6 to 8 weeks. Morton is a commissioned peace officer and is qualified to fill this temporary position.

The city council elected someone outside of the police department in order to not give any candidate a “leg up” as described by the city council. 

Morton’s confirmation will be reviewed by legal counsel but is expected to pass without issue.

The council is said to be doing the search for the next police chief and will not seek an outside job firm to help fill the position. The job posting is expected to be up this week. Officials did not initially say where the posting would be made.