City Assistant Chief Justin Bolt and Capt. Justin Ottaviano will be allowed to retain their positions after specially-assigned Northumberland County Senior Judge Charles H. Saylor rejected an effort by Lt. Fred Miller to have them removed through a legal procedure known as quo warranto, according to PennLive.com.

Quo warranto is a legal procedure used to challenge the right to public office that is believed wrongly held.

Miller argued that Bolt, Ottaviano and Justin Bell, also a target at one point, were promoted in violation of an ordinance City Council adopted June 12, 2014, creating a civil service board to examine applicants for appointment to any uniformed position in the bureaus of police and fire, with the exception of administrative chiefs, PennLive.com reported.

Miller alleged that city Mayor Derek Slaughter has not followed that process since becoming mayor in 2020.

In a previous ruling, Saylor agreed with a city argument that quo warranto action was permissible under the police collective bargaining agreement, PennLive.com reported.

There exists no requirement for use of the union grievance process for denial of promotion under the labor agreement, he ruled.

In February 2024, Saylor ruled that Miller had standing to bring the action as an aggrieved candidate for positions for which he was bypassed, not having the opportunity for selection under the civil service process.

Saylor, however, dismissed the complaint last week, ruling that under the form of government the city operates, the mayor retains the power to promote a candidate, and referring to Miller’s insistence they be removed as “unwarranted and without justification,” according to PennLive.com.

Bolt, Ottaviano and Bell had already run the gamut of civil service safeguards as they rose through the ranks of the bureau, noting that Miller made no assertion that the three were unqualified, Saylor wrote in his ruling, according to PennLive.com.

While Miller contends he has not been promoted in retaliation for filing lawsuits against the city, now-retired Lieutenant Steven Helm filed his own suit, claiming he was bypassed for promotion due to his union activities and his legal action. Both officers claim they were the most qualified, PennLive.com reported.

Helm’s claim that the civil service process must be used to fill all police positions below the rank of chief was rejected by a U.S. Middle District Court jury last November.

Helm appealed the verdict to Third Circuit Court of Appeals, with a similar suit filed by Miller currently stayed, pending a decision in Helm’s case.

Ranks above lieutenant are at-will appointments by the mayor, the city continues to maintain, according to PennLive.com, who noted that Slaughter is a defendant in the cases.

Miller is appealing the decision to Commonwealth Court, the outlet reported.