ST. JOSEPH --  St. Joseph officially has a new chief of police.  Interim Chief Dwight Pfannenstein and City Administrator Judy Weyrens say they finalized the terms and conditions of his contract Thursday afternoon.  He is the new police chief effective immediately.

The city council voted to offer Pfannenstein the job during their meeting on Monday night, on the condition he end his campaign for Stearns County Sheriff.  He tells WJON news that he has chosen to go down the path of being the police chief in St. Joseph, and he is no longer going to actively campaign for sheriff.  However, it is too late to remove Pfannenstein's name from the ballot for the August 14th primary.  So, in theory, Stearns county residents could still vote for him.

Three other men are also on the ballot for Stearns County Sheriff, Bob Dickhaus, Dave Bentrud, and Steve Soyka.  The top two vote-getters in the August primary move on to the general election.

Pfannenstein has been serving as the interim chief since former chief Joel Klein was placed on administrative leave back in April.  Klein resigned from his position earlier this month.

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