Chief Virgil L. Green Sr., a 20-year Police Chief veteran has been appointed the City’s new Chief of Police by Mayor Sally Wilson after the current Chief Ollie Collins 
reported his retirement at the end of October.
“After conducting a three-month long national search which attracted almost twenty applicants from various areas, it became clear to us that Chief Green is what Osceola needs at this time. Chief Green is well qualified to lead us forward and I am honored for him to accept this position.”
Mayor Sally L. Wilson
Chief Virgil L. Green Sr. was born and raised in Hobbs, New Mexico. He has a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice Administration from American Military University. He began his law enforcement career in 1984 with the Lea County Sheriff Department in Lovington, New Mexico. After moving to Norman, Oklahoma in 1989 he worked in the private sector until 1997 when he became a patrol officer with the Oklahoma City Housing Authority Enforcement Division. In 2000, he was appointed as the Chief of Police with the Boley Police Department.
In 2011, Chief Green accepted the Chief of Police with the City of Spencer, Oklahoma a suburb in Oklahoma City metro area. During his tenure as Chief of Police he was instrumental in making several police operational changes that enhanced the police department’s ability to provide better police service to the citizens of Spencer.
In 2015, after a national search for a police chief in Helena/West Helena, Arkansas, Chief Green was appointed as the police chief. While there, he focused on several key operational enhancements that involved better training for commissioned police officers and civilian employees. He established the agency’s first 911 dispatcher new hire training program that expanded current and new dispatchers training on 911 dispatching procedures.
In 2017, Chief Green returned to Oklahoma City where he became the first African American in the history of Oklahoma County to run for Oklahoma County Sheriff during a special election where he came up short. In 2018, Chief Green became the Deputy police chief/major for the state’s second largest school district in Tulsa, Oklahoma with the district’s campus police department where he was over day-to-day operations of both police officers and security officers. The agency was responsible for school safety plans for 100 Tulsa public school sites, consisting of over 40,000 students and a staff of over 7,000.
Chief Green holds police certification as a peace officer. He is a graduate of the Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training (CLEET) and the Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy. Chief Green is a graduate of the University of Arkansas Criminal Justice Institute Law Enforcement Executive Management Institute for Police Chief Administration. He is also a graduate of IACP Executive Leadership Training Leading by legacy for command staff. In 2014 Chief Green attended the prestigious law enforcement executive training with the United States Secret Service Dignitary Protection Training for Command Staff in Washington, DC.
In 2009, Chief Green was honored nationally by The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) with a Public Service Award in recognition of his outstanding dedication in the State of Oklahoma to prevent impaired driving and improve seat belt safety. Chief Green is the former national chairperson for the National Crime Solution Commission, an organization in Atlanta, Georgia tasked with studying and researching crime trends in urban and rural African American communities across the United States. Chief Green over the years has been recognized by local groups and churches for his outstanding community outreach efforts to build better partnerships between police and the minority community. Chief Green is a former youth volunteer coach with the local Earlywine YMCA in OKC.
Chief Green also is one of the co-founders and co-hosts of a national law enforcement podcast show, “You and the Law” podcast show. He is a member of the Church of Christ Church and has been married to his wife Pam for 27 years and they have two children together, ages 19 and 20. He also has two adult children from a previous marriage and his wife has three adult children from a previous marriage. They are the proud grandparents of 20 grandchildren.
Chief Green shared in a statement that he is honored and humbled that Osceola Mayor Sally Wilson and the five-person selection panel have selected him after a national police chief search to replace retiring Police Chief Ollie Collins. “I’m excited to come in and work with the men and women of the Osceola Police Department. This is a very good department. When I walked through the OPD facility it is apparent that this is an agency that’s moving in the right direction. My job will be to come in and work with the officers and civilian staff to see how we can enhance the police operations, to where we can better serve the citizens and businesses of Osceola.” Green shared that he was impressed to see the city and the private sector working together towards public safety with the investment into a robust and growing city-wide, surveillance camera system that’s tied into the police department communication center. “I can’t wait to get sworn in and meet the community, I truly believe we can be one of the safest cities in the state," Green said.
Comment from the Osceola City Hall
Osceola Awarded $2.8 Million EDA Grant for Infrastructure Improvement
The City of Osceola, Arkansas is very grateful to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo in being selected to receive the Economic Development Administration $2.8 million grant. This grant is specifically through EDA’s CARES Act Recovery Assistance and is aimed to improve the wastewater infrastructure in Osceola. The City of Osceola has long needed the upgrade to the municipal sewer system in order to help support their growing steel industry partners and their residents. It is imperative that the local industries can continue expanding without causing additional strain on the local municipal system. The process of getting this large award was long and arduous for the staff at Osceola City Hall. The city’s application process began in July 2019 when Mayor Sally Wilson traveled to Washington D.C. and met with the U. S Department of Commerce staff at their third-floor boardroom to present the city’s sewer expansion’s engineering drawing and cost estimate. Over the past two years many people worked to make this grant a reality including; Mayor Wilson, City Water Manager Tim Jones, City Wastewater Manager Brandon Haynes, East Arkansas Planning and Development staff, Cody Shreve, Great River Economic Development Foundation project coordinator Tamika Jenkins, McClelland Engineering senior associate Adam Triche, Senator John Boozman and his field representative Courtney Nance, Congressman Rick Crawford and his community improvement manager Charles Landrum, and Mitchell Williams attorney Michele Allgood. And local manufacturers were instrumental in securing the award by supplying supporting documentation such as completed ED 900B forms. Altogether the city’s application was 1,000-plus pages long and the application process required hundreds of hours of meetings and task assignments. According to the EDA press release, this grant, administered under the authority of the bureau’s flexible Economic Adjustment Assistance (EAA) program, provides a wide-range of financial assistance to eligible communities and regions as they respond to and recover from the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.
https://eda.gov/news/press-releases/2021/09/30/osceola-ar.htm
Latest Press Releases | U.S. Economic Development Administration
Spring Clean Up Day will be April 24th, 9:00 - 1:00.
Please help pass the word.
Osceola will hold our clean up day in conjunction with the countywide clean up event. Please refer to the attached announcement from Judge Nelson.
Thank you, Sally
On behalf of the City of Osceola I would like to extend our prayers and condolences to Jennifer Kennemore and all of Mayor Dickie Kennmore’s family and friends. 
For decades the name Dickie Kennemore has been synonymous with Osceola. His commitment to the city and belief in Osceola’s future was dear to him. He spent 28 years as the mayor, during which time he oversaw the building of the OPAR Community Center, the move of City Hall into the former downtown bank building, and most importantly the successful recruitment of numerous large industries to our town. This was in addition to his private work as a real estate and insurance broker.
He often bragged that our residents are what make Osceola great. Mayor Kennemore was always there to inspire others to help this community with his words and example. There was no one who lived in Osceola for any length of time who hadn’t met him for business, at the Country Club, at City Hall, at a public function, drinking coffee at McDonald’s, or working out at the community center. He was a believer that this town was worth fighting for because of the people who called it home. It was for this reason that he chose to live his life here, raise his family here, and it is here that his passing will be hardest felt.
We also remember Mayor Kennemore as a man of faith, who’s convictions in biblical teachings guided his values. He was a long-time member of Osceola Church of Christ and an avid reader of reflections on faith and society.
Altogether, Mayor Kennemore was our personal friend, our community champion, and a man of living convictions. For these reasons and many more, he will be missed.
We would like to share our appreciation with neighboring towns who have sent their condolences to our city and residents.
Finally, we have been given the blessing by the Kennemore family to request that the City of Osceola rename the Osceola Community Center in Dickie’s memory. If approved by the Osceola City Council, a dedication ceremony will be held as soon as COVID restrictions allow.
Sincerely, Sally
| 20 Jan 2025 04:15PM - Advertising and Promtion Tax Commission |
| 21 Jan 2025 05:00PM - City Council Meetings |
