Anna Paris

At a court hearing last week, the Powell Police Department’s community service officer pleaded guilty to driving while under the influence of alcohol while off-duty on the Fourth of July.

Anna M. Paris, 54, received credit for the three days that she served in jail after her initial arrest in Cody. Circuit Court Judge Bruce Waters suspended another 27 days of jail time and placed her on six months of unsupervised probation, with an order to pay $920 in fees and costs. Her defense attorney, Tim Blatt, described the stipulated sentence as standard for a first-offense DUI.

A blood sample taken at the time of Paris’ arrest indicated that her blood alcohol concentration was 0.12%; a person is considered too impaired to drive at 0.08%.

The Park County Attorney’s Office dropped two other misdemeanor charges of unlawful contact and interference with an emergency call, which related to allegations that Paris punched her husband multiple times and prevented him from dialing 911 during the July 4 incident.

Cody police had initially been called by a bystander, who reported that Paris and her husband were punching each other in a sedan parked in a Big Horn Avenue lot, court records say. He told police that he didn’t know why Paris had started punching him and that she had taken the phone out of his hand when he tried calling authorities; Paris said her husband was drunk and had tried grabbing the steering wheel in an attempt to stay in Cody, court records say.

Paris’ husband is currently on probation for severely beating her in 2015, a felony crime that was attributed in part to his prior brain injuries and a brain tumor. He later told prosecutors he was “not even remotely interested” in pursuing charges from the July 4 incident, Deputy Park County Attorney Jack Hatfield said in an interview.

During her time on probation, Paris is subject to random alcohol and drug testing, must obey the law, undergo an alcohol/substance abuse assessment, cannot drink alcohol and cannot enter bars unless it’s related to her job with the police department.

Paris, who’s been with the department for more than 30 years, is a civilian employee and does not carry a firearm. Her duties include handling animal-related calls, parking and planning and zoning violations and assisting with various community services, like car seat checks.

The City of Powell conducted its own internal investigation in connection with the allegations against Paris, to review any violations of city and department policies. Chief Roy Eckerdt said in early August that Paris was on paid administrative leave while the investigation was pending. However, Eckerdt said the results of that investigation and any discipline are confidential under state law. City payroll records analyzed by the Tribune indicate that, in early to mid-August, Paris went without pay for the equivalent of two weeks. She has since returned to the job.