A Schuylkill County judge was critical in the manner the Supervisors of Rush Township dealt with a former police chief.

Robert J. Romanick, of Mahanoy City, filed a mandamus action in the county court against the supervisors asking the court to order the board grant him a hearing to learn of the reasons for his release.The case was assigned to Judge John E. Domalakes who scheduled a hearing Thursday morning. The hearing never got underway as the judge was informed the supervisors had agreed to hold the hearing. Judge Domalakes admonished the supervisors for waiting until the date of a court hearing to decide and issued the following order.The Rush Township Board of Supervisors is directed to provide Romanick with a statement of charges on or before Dec. 20, 2009 and they are directed to provide a hearing to Romanick at which time he may contest the charges in acordance with Federal and State law and to do so within 30 days following the issuance of the statement.The judge also noted all rights and remedies provided under the law remain available to Romanick and he is not waiving any such rights or remedies by virtue of this proceeding. The current action is dismissed as moot and the parties are ordered to comply with this order or face contempt charges.Romanick joined the Rush Township police force in August 1999 and in January 2005 became chief until January 5, 2009. He claimed he was dismissed and requested a hearing as he is entitled under Police Tenure Act. The contention of the supervisors was he had resigned so there was no need of a hearing.