BLANCHESTER — A former part-time police officer has returned full-time.

During a special council on Wednesday, Blanchester Village Council agreed to have Ty Smith rejoin the Blanchester Police Department.

Chief Scott Reinbolt told council an officer they had recently hired had left due to that officer “not being in the right mindset” due to personal issues occurring in that officer’s life.

Ty Smith had previously worked as a part-time officer for the Blanchester Police Department in 2019 but left for a full-time job offer in Clermont County.

“(Smith) called me last week and said he would really like to come back here if we had any openings,” said Reinbolt.

With a full-time officer leaving in August, at the latest, Reinbolt wanted to hire Smith as soon as possible.

“I have the budget to,” said Reinbolt. “I believe it’ll be a boon for us in that it’ll save a lot of money on training and screening.”

He said all they would really have to do is look at Smith’s personnel file at his Clermont County job.

Reinbolt also told council there were no hard feelings for the aforementioned officer leaving.

“I felt he left on good terms. I told him we’d be happy to have him back if things settle down for him. And I told him I appreciated his maturity in coming to us and saying ‘I don’t think this is the right time for me,’” said Reinbolt.