Officer Emily Stone is pictured in 2017 when she joined the Medford Police Department. Stone resigned in 2020 after the department found she was untruthful during an investigation into why she did not obey a subpoena in Medford Municipal Court. 

A former Medford Police Department officer who resigned in 2020 after she was found to be untruthful during an investigation into her handling of a Medford Municipal Court subpoena could lose her public safety certification for life.

Emily Stone, 35, faces that consequence if the four-member executive committee of the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training votes to take away her certification at a meeting currently scheduled for Jan. 25. The department’s police policy committee voted unanimously Nov. 16 on a motion recommending the executive committee take action against Stone.

Stone could not be reached for comment.

Medford Police Department Lt. Geoff Kirkpatrick said his agency would not provide any information about Stone.

Stone was scheduled to appear in court at 5 p.m. July 7, 2020, in a traffic citation case from the previous April involving a 20-year-old male, according to a copy of the notice the Rogue Valley Times received through a public records request. The case, however, was dismissed by Judge William P. Haberlach, according to an online search of the Medford Municipal Court docket.

A three-page DPSST memo to the police policy committee dated Nov. 16 sheds light on the investigation’s findings into Stone.

A Municipal Court Trial Notice was placed in Stone’s mailbox on June 18, 2020, instructing her to appear in court on July 7, 2020. Although surveillance footage shows she stopped to check her mailbox “at least nine times” between June 21, 2020, and the eve of her court date, she did not arrive for her appearance, according to the memo.

When Medford Police Department staff contacted Stone after the fact, she said she would not be coming and that she had never received a notice.

On July 12, 2020, the department reviewed surveillance footage showing Stone checking her mailbox and placing some of her mail in a recycling bin before coming back and taking it out. The same day, Stone was shown the video and she said she removed some paperwork from the building but could not remember what it was. Stone also again denied receiving a trial notice and said she didn’t have court until August.

When the department interviewed Stone a second time, she said she was looking for a subpoena in the recycling bin. The investigation later determined she was referring to a subpoena that had nothing to do with the July 7, 2020, trial date.

During that same interview, Stone said she found a subpoena sent from the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office in the recycling bin. She never produced the document during the investigation into her conduct, the memo stated.

The Medford Police Department’s investigation into Stone concluded that she had “been deceptive on multiple occasions” during both interviews and violated performance- and attendance-related policies when she failed to show up for the trial, according to the memo.

DPSST later determined that Stone violated two elements of the board’s moral fitness standards — dishonesty and misconduct. These were part of the police policy committee’s Nov. 16 discussion about Stone.

One committee member, Tigard police Chief Kathy McAlpine, said she had trouble determining whether Stone’s conduct could be considered dishonesty.

“I was just having a little bit of trouble with getting over the hump of stating those documents were what she looked at because I think the video showed she would glance at things, look at them, but, again, I could not ascertain that was actually the court (notice),” McAlpine said during the meeting. “That’s where I was having trouble coming with a slam dunk.”

Shelby Wright, executive assistant to the director of the department, responded to McAlpine’s comments by saying that DPSST uses preponderance of evidence rather than clear and convincing to make determinations about police officers’ conduct. McAlpine responded with a thumbs up.

Other members of the committee, including Oregon State Police Major Alex Gardner, expressed concern over Stone’s conduct.

“I find myself thinking, what would she do if the stakes were higher, so I would move for a lifetime (ban of Stone’s public safety certification),” Gardner said.

Previous police policy committee meeting minutes indicate Stone contacted DPSST about notice of her case and the opportunity to submit mitigation. DPSST Communications Coordinator Sam Tenney could not confirm Wednesday whether Stone had submitted mitigation in written form. The ex-Medford police officer did have an opportunity to present mitigation via comments before the committee Nov. 16, but she was not present for the meeting, Tenney said.