POULSBO — Finalists for the Poulsbo police chief position will be interviewed on Aug. 15 by a panel that will include the mayor and two City Council members. A public “meet and greet” with the finalists will take place on Aug. 14 or 15.

Officials discussed status of the police chief recruitment process at the July 6 City Council meeting.

Mayor Becky Erickson said the recruitment is being conducted by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs; as of July 8, there were three candidates, Erickson said. She expects more by the time the application period closes on July 15.

At July 6 meeting, council members also unanimously agreed to raise the salary range for the new chief to $122,490-142,000 a year. Former Police Chief Alan Townsend was paid $125,197 a year.

The new police chief will succeed Public Safety Director Shawn Delaney, a retired Poulsbo deputy police chief who has filled in since Townsend resigned in March.

Erickson said the higher end of the salary range is based on salaries in “larger, comparable cities.” She said she’d like to recruit a lieutenant or captain from a larger agency, and the higher salary range is based on “where we might fit if we were looking for that kind of candidate.”

Townsend resigned over his relationship with a subordinate officer and his department’s handling of a suspected DUI involving a sheriff’s sergeant.

The police department currently has the director, a deputy police chief, 12 officers, three sergeants, one detective, and three clerks.