Nearly one year after his termination, former Taft Police Chief John Landreth has reached a settlement agreement with the city, resolving a lawsuit he filed against them in 2025.
The settlement, approved by The City Council calls for the city to pay Landreth $180,000 and place a letter in his personnel file withdrawing accusations made against him.
Landreth filed suit against the city in 2025 following his termination in April of that year. The termination came after allegations of Landreth making violent threats against city employees and members of the city council during a March 18, 2025 meeting.
In an interview following the settlement, Landreth said he had hoped the case would go to trial. "It's been a long year and a half," Landreth told KRIS 6 News. "I really wanted to go to trial, but my attorney didn't want to go."
A key component of the settlement for Landreth was the inclusion of a letter to be placed in his personnel file. The letter, signed by Mayor Elida Castillo addresses the accusations that led to his termination.
"The City Council for the City of Taft wishes to express its regret regarding accusations made against former Police Chief John Landreth that on March 18, 2025, he made violent threats against city employees and members of the City Council," the letter states. "These accusations against Police Chief Landreth do not reflect the views, opinions, or position of the current City Council, and they are hereby withdrawn by the City Council."
The letter continues: "The City Council further regrets that such accusations were made publicly and acknowledges the potential adverse effects their publication may have caused."
Landreth noted that while the letter withdraws the allegations, it stops short of a direct apology.
"They never really apologize," he said. "They just say that they're withdrawing the allegations that were made basically and putting this in my file. To me, if I say something to you and then I say I take it back, you might as well be saying I'm sorry, I didn't mean it."
The former chief said clearing his name was always his primary motivation for pursuing the lawsuit, adding he had hoped law enforcement would investigate the threats he was accused of making.
"You had a chief of police that was accused of threatening the entire city council just about, which is illegal," Landreth said. "My side of the story was I never threatened anybody and those statements are false, which is also illegal. So either way somebody's lying and somebody broke the law. And I really thought somebody would step in and do an investigation, and they never did."
Landreth, who turns 60 next month, said he is unsure if he will continue in law enforcement following the experience. "Law enforcement don't excite me the way it used to. I'll just be honest," he said. "I would have liked to finish my law enforcement career on a positive note. I didn't make it go this direction."
Landreth said that while he is ready to move forward, he remains mindful of who ultimately bears the cost of such disputes.
"The citizens of Taft are the ones that pay," he said. "They have no animal control, no code enforcement. They have half a police department. The entire time I was there they had all those things."
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