The Tullos Town Council voted to terminate Town Clerk Jonna Souppa during a special meeting held Wednesday afternoon, December 13, at the Tullos Town Hall.

At the special meeting, the Council immediately entered into executive closed session with Clerk Souppa, to discuss “personnel matters.” They remained behind closed doors for approximately 25 minutes before returning to open session.

Once in open session, Council Member Martha Jinks made the motion to terminate Souppa from employment with the town, removing her from her positions as Town Clerk, Tax Collector and Ex Officio. The motion was seconded by Council Member Tina Murphrey-Tullos and it passed by a unanimous vote.

The Mayor nor Council gave reasons for the termination publicly and are not required to, as they complied with public employee privacy laws.

Also during the meeting, the Council approved to change Mayor’s Court to Magistrate’s Court and appointed Attorney Greg Jones as the Town’s Magistrate and Attorney Trevor Fry as the Town’s Prosecutor.

During the Mayor’s comments, Mayor Karla Cockerham thanked the Council for being available for an additional meeting, especially during the busy holiday season. She also updated the Council that another special meeting will likely be called before the end of this year as decisions to fill the Town Clerk position will have to be made.