Plains officer sworn in

Plains Mayor Chris Allen swore in the newest member of the Plains Police Department at City Hall on Friday morning.

Rick Nickolaus joined Chief of Police Brian Josephson and Officer Rob Geenen to bring the police department back to full force. Nickolaus replaced Chris Reyna, who was dismissed in May. The town couldn't fill his vacancy until the Plains Police Commission held a hearing to confirm Reyna's termination, which it did two weeks ago.

Nickolaus was one of three candidates, all men from Plains, who applied for the position. The police commission goes over the applications. The ones they deem fit for the job are passed on to the mayor, who does the hiring. Allen said that it was a tough decision because they were all quality candidates. All three were members of the Plains Police Department's reserve program. The 45-year-old Nickolaus had been a reserve officer at Plains for one year and a reserve officer in Oregon for 15 years.

For the swearing in, Nickolaus was joined by his wife Michelle and daughter Gianna, along with Sanders County Deputy Devin Wegener and Josephson, who said his department has been short for a while and was pleased that the position was filled. "It's going to be nice now having a full force out there," said Allen.