The county police Western District commander has been transferred following the conclusion of an internal probe into whether he perjured himself in U.S. District Court.

As of this week, Capt. Eric Hodge will be assigned to the Office of Emergency Management. Hodge will be assuming the position held by Capt. Herbert Hasenpusch, who will in turn will take over as Western District commander, county police spokesman Justin Mulcahy wrote in an email Wednesday afternoon.

Hasenpusch was promoted to the position at the Emergency Operations Center late last month.

An internal investigation into whether Hodge committed perjury in affidavits filed in a lawsuit by a former employee, alleging discrimination and retaliation by the county, was closed in recent weeks. Former county employee Karla Hamner made the complaint against Hodge last month after the testimony of two officers in her lawsuit against the county seemed to conflict with Hodge's.

In August, Lt. Thomas Kohlmann and Maj. Edward Bergin testified that Hodge had referred to himself as a "fixer" in Hamner's firing, which the suit alleges was ordered by County Executive John R. Leopold. Hodge testified in affidavits filed in the case in June that neither Leopold or anyone from his office had tried to influence the decision.

In a letter obtained by The Capital, written to Hodge by Internal Affairs Commander Lt. Shawn Urbas and dated Aug. 29, Urbas informed Hodge the investigation was complete and that the complaint against him had been classified as "not sustained."

According to the police department's policy and procedures index, a complaint is found to be not sustained when there has been insufficient evidence to either prove or disprove it.

At police headquarters in Millersville Thursday, Anne Arundel Police Chief Larry Tolliver declined to comment on the rationale for the transfer or the accuracy of the letter, saying both were personnel issues.

Hodge did not return a call for comment.

Hamner filed the suit against the county in 2010. In it, she claims her firing was ordered by Leopold after she made a personnel complaint against him.

She is seeking $300,000 in damages.

Hamner was hired as a full-time county employee in August 2007. A year later, she was transferred from the Arundel Center to the county Police Department in a provisional position until she applied for a job as the department's public information officer.

The transfer came after Hamner complained to county's Office of Personnel after Leopold allegedly grabbed her and yelled at her about her hairstyle, according to the initial complaint.

In September 2008, she was informed that she was not being chosen for the position and was offered two weeks of severance pay, according to lawsuit. Hodge, who will be a 16-year veteran of the force in early October, was one of four panelists who interviewed and scored applicants over the course of two days, according to a motion filed by the county Office of Law to dismiss the case.

In affidavits filed in June, Hodge said he had "no reason to retaliate" against Hamner.

Then in a deposition given in August, Kohlmann testified that Hodge had referred to himself as a "problem solver" and a "fixer" in Hamner's firing.

Kohlmann testified that in August 2008 he had a conversation with Hodge at the department's headquarters in which Hodge told him Leopold "had a problem with a woman down at the Arundel Center ... we're going to do interviews for the position, but she ain't getting the job."

While Bergin testified he had never directly heard Hodge talk about his involvement in Hamner's firing, he said he was approached by Kohlmann and police fleet coordinator Justin Duncan, both of whom told him that Hodge had referred to himself as "the fixer."

Some 10 months after Hamner was fired, Hodge was promoted to Western District captain. He received a 5 percent pay increase, making his annual salary $90,167.

Bergin also testified to witnessing a phone conversation between former Police Chief James Teare Sr. and Leopold, in which he said the county executive ordered Hamner's firing.

Teare resigned in late July after the state prosecutor's office announced it was dropping a criminal probe into his conduct.

Leopold is scheduled to stand trial in January on charges of misconduct and misappropriation. He is accused of asking officers to rip down an opponent's campaign sign, compile dossiers on his supposed political enemies and drive him to local parking lots to have sex with a county employee.

The March indictment against Leopold stated that Teare knew about the alleged activity but failed to take action.

Hamner's suit is one of two filed against the county alleging gender discrimination and wrongful termination.

Former constituent services specialist Joan Harris filed a lawsuit in March, alleging she was fired for failing to support Leopold's re-election campaign in 2010 and for helping Hamner with her case.

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