Beginning July 1, sheriff's deputies will no longer be stationed in the town of Spring Lake full-time.

Spring Lake aldermen voted Monday to fund the town's police department in the coming year, rather than pay the Sheriff's Department nearly $1.2 million to patrol the town full-time.

The Cumberland County Sheriff's Department has placed four deputies on each shift in town since early May. That's when the Spring Lake Police Department was stripped of its powers following a state investigation into two officers and the resignation of the police chief.

Interim Police Chief Gregg Jarvies said he hopes to present a transition plan to reassemble the Spring Lake Police Department in the next seven to ten days. He said eleven of the officers are still on the pay roll and anxious to find out what will happen with their jobs.

"That doesn't mean we've made a decision as to what to do with the positions," Jarvies said. "All we know now is we have the money to fund them. We have to deal with the fact that we don't have enough people even if we go back on the street."

The department's re-establishment also hinges on it being recognized by the justice system.

John Midgette, executive director of the North Carolina Police Benevolent Association, said he has concerns about the actions of a judge and district attorney that led to the disabling of the police department.

"We know of no position where the law allows this," Midgette said. "We think it's Constitutionally challengeable, and it's legally troubling as to how this all came about."

Alderwoman Fredricka Sutherland said she, like many other residents, is worried about safety and the amount of time it could take to build up the police department again.

"We need to have a police force up in running, not in twelve months, not in twenty four months, not in thirty six months," she said. "These citizens pay taxes. They need the best service."