A Merit Board hearing for Lt. Larry Eckhardt of the Maricopa Police Department is scheduled for March 8.

Eckhardt, who earns $87,150 yearly, was placed on paid administrative leave July 22 and the sent back to work in the Criminal Investigations Division by Interim Police Chief Steven Stahl in November.

Stahl, who was recently appointed permanent chief, said in November it was a better use of taxpayer dollars to have Eckhardt at work rather than sitting at home.

City spokeswoman LaTricia Woods said Eckhardt has requested a closed hearing and it will not be open to the public.

The city has not said why Eckhardt is being investigated, citing a section of Arizona’s open records law that makes an exception for releasing information on open investigations by an employer on a police or probation officer.

On the same day Eckhardt was placed on leave, MPD Officer Miller Dao was fired and an iPad reported missing from the Salt Lake City International Airport on July 19 was traced to Maricopa.

Eckhardt was among the first officers hired to man the city’s police force, which was created in 2006.

In September 2007 he was promoted from sergeant to lieutenant and in October 2009 was disciplined along with several other city employees for improper use of city computers. Eckhardt and others were accused of passing along an email with a photo of a naked woman on Canadian currency.

In November, after a nearly 12-hour hearing, the board recommended that Lt. Willie Payne be fired. Fischer carried out the board’s recommendation.

Payne was fired for making racially insensitive and offensive remarks to coworkers and lying during an internal investigation.

Payne is now conducting training workshops for law enforcement agencies throughout the country.