Purcellville Police Department will remain funded through 2026 after outrage at town council meeting

PURCELLVILLE, Va. - The Purcellville Police Department will remain funded through 2026 after outrage from community members. 

Packed meeting:

It was standing room only at Tuesday night's town council meeting, with every side room packed and overflow running outside the Town Hall as council members listened to hours of outrage from citizens. 

It took two separate votes and much debate but on Tuesday night, it was decided that the police department will remain fully funded at $3.2 million for 2026.

What they said:

There were a number of issues brought up that shed light on how the council has been conducting business since the mayor and two new council members were elected six months ago. 

In their first meeting on Jan. 8, there was the appointment of the town manager, former Mayor Kwasi Fraser without the council interviewing the 82 candidates that applied. That spurred a petition to have the mayor and three council members suspended.

There is also a criminal investigation into the Vice Mayor, Ben Nett – who was absent from Tuesday night’s meeting – for potential violations of Virginia conflict of interest laws. 

READ MORE: Purcellville Vice Mayor under criminal investigation amidst possible elimination of police department

The backstory:

A letter from the Loudoun County Commonwealth's attorney states Nett was fired from the Purcellville Police Department on April 8 within a week he voted to disband it with no effort to disqualify himself from the vote.

"Since January, since they’ve all taken office, there’s been a lot of behavior that is unethical and for me, I thought was illegal, so I am happy that it’s not just me and my fellow colleagues that are seeing this behavior and are seeing what’s going on and looking into it," Purcellville Town Council Member Erin Rayner said. 

For the recall petition, 495 votes are needed to move forward. They currently have over 1,100.