Appeal against former Austin police officer for domestic violence denied

A former high-ranking Austin police officer who was fired last year after being arrested and charged with domestic violence rejected his appeal of the firing late Monday, a city official confirmed to the American-Statesman.

Austin police arrested Jonathan Kringen in October on domestic violence charges after officers said they observed him becoming physically violent toward a woman. At the time, Kringen was placed on leave and the police department said it would “thoroughly investigate” the incident.

The Statesman asked the department for the results of that investigation but received no response. Personnel records show Kringen was fired by the city in April. He was the department's top privacy officer.

When asked for comment Tuesday, Kringen referred the case to his attorney, Brad Heilman. Heilman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Kringen appealed his termination at a hearing before the City of Austin's Municipal Civil Service Commission on Monday.

Although it is normally a public meeting, Kringen's legal team requested that the hearing be held in camera due to the sensitive nature of some of the details, which is legal under the Texas Open Meetings Act when discussing certain topics, such as personnel matters.

The city had no objections to the closing of the meeting. At the time of publication, the audio recording of the public portion of the meeting was not yet available. The meeting lasted into the evening.

Senior Austin Police Department officials testified at Monday's hearing, including interim chief Robin Henderson, chief of staff Jeff Greenwalt and deputy chief Lee Rogers.

Kringen's case is still pending before the court, with a pretrial hearing scheduled for September 16.

The city hired Kringen in July 2020, and at the time of his firing, he had a salary of about $155,000. Kringen participated in several public discussions, including with the Austin City Council, about the controversial partnership between the Austin Police Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

This is a development Story, Check back later for further updates.

This article originally appeared in the Austin American-Statesman: Appeal denied against firing of former Austin police officer arrested last year