Baldwin ? A former Baldwin police officer who left the force after it was learned he had been convicted of auto theft as a teenager has been reaffirmed by the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Commission.

The action leaves Bill Dempsey, who left the department last summer, once again eligible for jobs with Kansas law enforcement agencies.

Last June Dempsey, then a corporal, was given “notice of disciplinary action” by the city and suspended with pay. The action came after a background check by the department revealed Dempsey had been convicted of auto theft in San Diego in 1964, when he was 19 years old.

Dempsey left the department before the City Council could take further action in the matter.

Dempsey, who at the time said he thought his conviction had been expunged or dismissed in 1973, traveled to California and hired an attorney to research court documents about his case. Dempsey said Tuesday he petitioned a California court to have the felony reduced to a misdemeanor.

A judge agreed, and it was postdated to 1973, Dempsey said. The action made the question of whether the conviction was expunged or dismissed moot, he said.

Dempsey and his attorneys then took the matter to KLETC. Leavenworth Police Chief Lee Doehring, who chaired the commission’s hearing concerning Dempsey, was unavailable for comment Tuesday.

Dempsey and one of his attorneys, Dennis Hawver, said they thought Baldwin Police Chief Mike McKenna acted against Dempsey last year to get him off the force. Dempsey said he was fired by McKenna, but McKenna said Dempsey resigned. McKenna declined to make any additional comment.

Dempsey is one of four current and former Baldwin police officers who filed a federal lawsuit nearly two years ago against the city. They claim their rights were violated by the city and that the city sought retribution against them for speaking out about their concerns about another former Baldwin officer. The lawsuit is pending.

Dempsey, who has been working with a private security firm, said he would return to police work somewhere.

“That’s my life’s work,” Dempsey said.