Seminole City Councilman Larry Church has tendered his resignation, but Mayor Jeff Griffin said he would likely be reappointed to the council in the near future.

Griffin said during Tuesday’s regular council meeting that Church has not completed state-mandated training, but if he does so, he could return to the board.

“He has not completed the training required by state law. There’s a requirement for someone serving on a municipality that they complete the training within one year of being sworn in,” Griffin said. “With that, Larry and I talked today and he gave me his resignation. I told him that once he completes the training, I would be nominating him to fulfill the remaining time of his seat. He was in agreement with that, and when he completes it, we’ll come back to the council for a vote.”

Griffin made a motion for the council to vote on accepting Church’s resignation but was cut short by City Attorney Brad Carter.

“You probably don’t need to vote on it tonight. Just add it as an agenda item for the next meeting. He’ll probably have his training completed by then,” Carter said. The next regular council meeting is scheduled for July 13.

The statute states in part that “each person elected for the first time to a position of a municipality on or after January 1, 2005, shall be required within one year after taking the oath of office to attend an institute for municipal officials.”

The institute consists of eight hours of instruction on

municipal budget requirements, the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act, the Oklahoma Open Records Act, ethics, procedures for conducting meetings, conflict of interest, and purchasing procedures.

The statute also states, “a person elected to a municipal position who fails to satisfy the education requirements of this section shall cease to hold the position commencing at the next scheduled meeting of the governing body following the first year anniversary of the person's taking the oath of office.”