A key member of West Penn Township’s police department has inked a new deal.

On a unanimous vote, township supervisors Tuesday morning approved a new three-year contract with police Sgt. John Kaczmarczyk.

Per the terms of the contract, Kaczmarczyk will be paid $31 an hour in 2025, $32.55 an hour in 2026 and $34.18 an hour in 2027.

At its reorganization meeting in January, supervisors voted unanimously to have Cpl. Jason Lorah fill the role of police chief.

In December, board Chairman Tony Prudenti said Lorah would become police chief at a rate of $81,120, with Kaczmarczyk being a full-time officer, both effective at the start of this year.

The position had been vacant since former Chief James Bonner’s suspension in September and subsequent termination in October.

At its April 1, 2024, meeting, supervisors promoted Kaczmarczyk to sergeant and Lorah to the rank of corporal after Bonner requested the promotions.

The board also in January moved to have Kaczmarczyk work as a full-time employee. As a part-timer, he had served as the department’s sergeant-in-charge since Bonner’s suspension.

Kaczmarczyk is a 17-year member of the force. Overall, he has over 34 years experience.

Bonner said at that time Lorah had worked for the department for years and had retired with the rank of sergeant. He returned to the township’s police force as a patrolman, and had been covering a multitude of shifts.

In October, supervisors terminated the employment of Bonner, whose contract was set to expire at the end of 2024.

Bonner had been on paid administrative suspension since Sept. 4.

Bonner was hired as chief in October 2021, but had worked for the township since 2016.

Bonner’s wife, Carla Fritz, has filed a lawsuit alleging the township violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family Medical Leave Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and other federal and state laws while she was employed as support staff for the police department.

The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. In it, Fritz alleges discriminatory and retaliatory actions made after she was diagnosed with anxiety led to her termination in October 2023.

In her lawsuit, Fritz is seeking several forms of relief, including back pay and benefits, compensation for emotional pain and suffering, and punitive damages.