Dec. 10 -- LIMA -- The city of Lima will select a new police chief next summer for the second time in as many years.

Chief James Baker will retire on July 7, it was announced during a meeting of the Lima City Council's Human Resource Committee held Monday evening. Baker was sworn into office as chief on July 17, 2024, to succeed Angel Cortes, who retired after 33 years with the LPD and two years as its chief.

Lima Mayor Sharetta Smith on Tuesday said Baker has not yet submitted any official paperwork but has made his retirement plans known publicly.

Baker's retirement, the mayor said, had been a foregone conclusion since he was appointed chief due to his enrollment in a Deferred Retirement Option Plan, or DROP. According to the mayor, the program was developed in the early 2000s to attract employees for fire and police departments. Retirement dates are based on an enrollee's length of service. Cortes had been enrolled in the same program, according to the mayor.

While Baker's retirement will take effect in July, it is expected that a promotional assessment examination to fill the departmental vacancy will not be prepared until sometime in May, Lima Human Resources Director Della Bradford told city council representatives Monday evening. Smith said testing is expected to take place in August. The mayor said she would appoint an acting chief -- either Major Ron Holman or Major Curt Hile -- to lead the department during the interim.

Holman and Hile are the two members of the department who are currently eligible to take the examination. If both elect not to take the exam additional LPD officers would then become eligible.