The entire Barrackville Police Department, all two sworn officers, was relieved of duty after the town’s sergeant accused local officials of breaking into the police evidence room, capping a weeks-long power struggle between the newly elected town council and the officers who served a community of roughly 1,200 people in north-central West Virginia.
The department itself announced the move on Facebook: “Effective immediately, the entire Barrackville Police Department has been relieved of duty by the Mayor and City Council.” The post added a note of gratitude to residents. “We are sincerely grateful for the support, trust, and encouragement shown to us by the Barrackville community throughout our service. It has been an honor and a privilege to serve and protect this town.”
What Barrackville now has, in place of a police department, is a growing list of unanswered questions, about who entered the evidence room, why the council canceled a public meeting where residents planned to demand answers, and whether elected officials broke state law by seizing operational control of the department. Mayor Tom Straight and council members have not publicly explained their actions. Fox News Digital reported that it reached out to Straight, council members, and the West Virginia Municipal League for comment, and received no response from any of them.
Barrackville sits about 25 miles southwest of Morgantown in Marion County. In December 2025, the department announced Zachary Freeburn’s appointment as the new full-time chief of police, a hire that came with visible optimism. The department’s Facebook post at the time declared: “We look forward to continuing to rebuild and strengthen our department to better serve our community, and we are excited to once again have a full-time officer leading our agency.”
Freeburn brought credentials. He graduated from the West Virginia State Police Academy, held a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, and carried an advanced Drug Recognition Expert certification. His tenure lasted less than seven months.
In a resignation letter shared with local outlet WBOY, Freeburn described what happened shortly after the newly elected town council took office. He wrote that he was called into a closed-door meeting and told that a council member would directly supervise the police department and implement changes to policies, procedures, and daily operations. Freeburn said the unnamed council member told him: “If I give you a directive you follow it… I am in charge and what I say goes.”
Freeburn objected. He wrote that those directives violated West Virginia law governing municipal police departments, though the specific statute was not identified in his letter. He described the situation as creating what he believed would become a hostile work environment. Rather than comply, he resigned “effective immediately.”
His letter also noted that one of the biggest complaints he heard from Barrackville residents was a lack of transparency at town hall. Freeburn said he chose to resign so the issues could be brought into the open, expressing hope that residents would finally receive “the transparency that they have been asking for.”
The pattern is not unique to Barrackville. In Georgia, a Cohutta mayor dissolved his town’s entire police department after officers raised complaints, a reminder of how small-town politics can erase an entire law enforcement operation overnight.
After Freeburn left, the department announced that Sgt. Hunt, whose first name was not initially made public in the department’s statement, would serve as officer in charge. “Until further notice, Sergeant Hunt will serve as the officer in charge of the Barrackville Police Department to ensure the continued operation of the department,” the Facebook post read.
That arrangement lasted days. Newsmax reported that the sergeant’s first name was David. Hunt told WBOY that when he arrived at the department on Tuesday morning, he discovered the police evidence room had been entered. He alleged that town officials had previously discussed conducting an inventory of the department without officers present.
Hunt confronted the situation directly. During a meeting with Mayor Straight and council members, he accused town officials of entering the evidence room. He claimed Councilmember Alex Neville acknowledged taking a set of police keys during that meeting.
Immediately after Hunt made that accusation, he and one other unnamed officer, the department’s entire remaining sworn force, were relieved of duty. Hunt told WBOY he intended to seek whistleblower protections.
Fox News Digital noted it has not independently verified Hunt’s allegations. Neither Neville nor Straight has publicly responded. The question of whether the evidence room was formally secured, inspected, or reported to any outside law enforcement authority after the alleged entry remains unanswered.
That silence matters. An evidence room is not a supply closet. It holds materials tied to criminal cases, materials whose integrity determines whether charges hold or collapse. If unauthorized individuals entered that room, the chain of custody for every piece of evidence inside could be compromised. And the people of Barrackville have no way to know, because the officials who fired the officers making the allegation have said nothing publicly.
Freeburn’s resignation letter was written before the department was dismissed. He intended it to be read at the July 7 town council meeting, the same meeting where petition organizers urged residents to show up and demand accountability.
That meeting never happened. The Barrackville Town Council canceled it, posting on Facebook that it was called off because of “a lack of sufficient information regarding items listed under unfinished business.” The council did not specify which agenda items lacked sufficient information or why those gaps could not be addressed in a public forum.
Meanwhile, a Barrackville resident launched an online petition on MoveOn.org calling on the town council to reinstate Freeburn. The petition argued he had been “forced to resign due to what many residents believe was unnecessary overreach by the newly elected Town Council.” It praised the chief’s brief record in terms that suggest he made an impression fast.
“Our Police Chief quickly earned the trust, respect, and appreciation of our community through his professionalism, leadership, integrity, and commitment to keeping Barrackville safe. Although his time serving our town was brief, his impact was undeniable.”
The petition called on town leaders to reconsider the circumstances surrounding the resignation, restore public confidence through transparency, and reinstate Freeburn. How many signatures it has collected was not reported.
When local officials face scrutiny for misconduct, the consequences can extend well beyond a single community. A former Kansas mayor recently surrendered to ICE after a guilty plea for illegal voting, another case where the people entrusted with governing a small town betrayed that trust.
Barrackville now has no active police department. Marion County Sheriff Roger Cunningham previously told WBOY that his office will continue responding to calls in Barrackville, as it routinely does throughout the county. That provides a baseline of coverage, but it is not the same as having local officers who know the streets, the residents, and the trouble spots.
The social media reaction beneath the department’s farewell post reflected a community caught between frustration and dark humor. “Time to do some deep background on the city council,” one commenter wrote. “The truth is not being told.” Another asked: “Who is gonna look over the 5 residents in Barrackville now?”
One Barrackville resident, Isabella Pham, captured the mood more directly in comments to the New York Post: “I just think that the town right now is in a little bit of a mess. We’ve gone through a lot of different people, and I’m just hoping that at the end of this, we can get a little bit of stability, transparency and security.”
Stability, transparency, and security. Three things a functioning police department is supposed to provide, and three things the Barrackville Town Council has failed to deliver or explain since it took office.
The list of things the public does not know is long. No one has explained what specific “operational changes” the council member sought to impose on the department. No one has identified which West Virginia statute Freeburn believed was being violated. No one has disclosed what items sat under “unfinished business” on the July 7 agenda. No one has confirmed or denied whether the evidence room was entered, by whom, or whether any evidence was disturbed.
Fox News Digital contacted the West Virginia Municipal League seeking clarification on the authority of municipal officials over police department operations under state law. No response was reported.
The broader context is hard to ignore. Across the country, law enforcement officers face increasing political interference, eroding institutional support, and a climate where even a congressional resolution honoring police can become a partisan flashpoint. Barrackville is a town of 1,200 people, not a major city, but the dynamic is familiar. Officers who push back against political overreach find themselves out of a job.
Hunt’s claim that he plans to seek whistleblower protections suggests this story is not over. Whether he has formally filed, and with which authority, remains unknown. Freeburn’s letter sits in public view, its allegations unaddressed by the officials it names. The council meeting where residents were supposed to get answers was canceled by the very people who owe those answers.
And in communities already stretched thin, the disappearance of a local police force can leave residents vulnerable. When civic disorder spreads in places without adequate law enforcement presence, the people who pay the price are not the politicians who made the decisions. They are the residents left behind.
Barrackville’s town council fired every officer it had, canceled the meeting where the public planned to hold them accountable, and went silent. If that is what passes for local governance, the residents of Barrackville deserve better, and they know it.
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