Lehighton has added a full-time police officer to beef up its ranks.

On a 5-0 vote, borough council on Monday offered employment to an unnamed candidate as a full-time police officer.

Also as part of its motion, council agreed to have the Civil Service Commission look to restart the testing process again to create a new full-time list.

After the meeting, borough police Chief Troy Abelovsky declined to name the person who was hired due to the pending completion of background and psychological checks.

Abelovsky said the salary for an officer in their first year is $80,300, depending on the experience of the candidate.

He said that should the person accept the position, the starting salary would be $60,200.

Abelovsky said the new officer would give the borough 11 full-timers, including himself. The department currently has no part-time officers.

In February, council on a 6-0 vote at a special meeting agreed to advertise for more officers.

After an executive session, council approved a request from the Police Civil Service Commission to dissolve the then current list of applicants, and agreed to advertise for new hires.

Borough Manager Dane DeWire said at that time the borough was looking to fill two full-time officers positions, and possibly a third before the end of the year.